Connecting with loved-ones from 33,000 feet above the ground just got easier, especially if you are aboard an Air France international flight. Air France has become the first airline in the world to offer an in-flight mobile phone service on international flights. They are using the Mobile OnAir system, and passengers traveling on the Airbus A318 aircraft operating the European routes can now Send and receive SMS and MMS messages and send and receive emails via all phones with Internet access. However they will only be able to make and receive phone calls during the second half of the trial. After the six-month trial period expires, Air France will examine the feedback and comments to determine whether to launch this service on all its flights. The phones work only after the plane reaches 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) and the "Switch off your phone" is turned off.

Apparently the Mobile OnAir onboard mobile telephony system does not interfere with the radio-navigation instruments on this Airbus A318. OnAir has roaming agreements with mobile network operators, including the three major operators in France: Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR. This is how the system works: "Mobile phones connect to a miniature cellular network installed inside this aircraft. A modem transmits data and calls to a satellite that routes them to a ground station. Data and calls are then routed to the passenger's usual telephone network. This network is located inside the aircraft.
Phones are used just like on the ground. To make a call on board the aircraft, passengers simply dial the international prefix (+) or 00 + country code + full number (without the 0)."

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