Brussels, 02/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - The number of European aeroplanes equipped with systems that will allow the use of mobile telephones on board is expected to double by the end of the year, taking the number of aircraft offering the possibility of sending SMS or making phone calls while in flight to more than 50, says the European Commission in a press release published on Thursday 2 April. A year ago, the European Commission adopted common safety rules on using mobile phones on board aeroplanes (see EUROPE 9637), ensuring that the in-flight use of mobiles will not interfere with on-board systems or with terrestrial mobile communications networks and connects only to the on-board base station linked to the ground by satellite. Appropriate systems have been installed in 27 aeroplanes belonging to three different European airlines (the Irish Ryanair, TAP of Portugal and BMI of the UK). Two companies, OnAir (Geneva) and AeroMobile (London), currently provide communications services. According to information available to the Commission, which has no responsibility for setting airline roaming charges, the price of on-board phone services starts at around €1.60 per minute, while text messages cost roughly €0.43. (A.By./transl.rt)