Ryanair has created shockwaves throughout the industry by announcing that it will be launching the use of mobile phones on a number of its flights. At the moment the service is only available in planes based in Dublin, but over the next 18 months all of Ryanair’s planes will have the technology in place to allow passengers to use their phones.

Voice calls will be charged at £1.50 to £3, texts will be 40p and emails using a mobile will cost between £1 and £2. Incoming calls will also incur a charge, but incoming texts will be free. After the initial charges have been made, customers will then be charged their normal roaming rate.

However, this all flies in the face of recent research that suggests that phone calls are not wanted by passengers. Times Online Travel conducted a poll in January 2009 which showed that 87% of people did not want voice calls allowed on flights. The industry has also been split, with a number of major airlines saying that they are not going to introduce the service.

However, Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of the company, said that he had no patience with the “Luddite approach”, adding that “our services are not cathedral-like sanctuaries”.

Ryanair has joined forces with OnAir, a Swiss-based firm, to bring in the new technology, and it says the phones will not affect the navigation-bearing displays. The planes will use a light, just like that used for seatbelts, to announce when mobile use is permitted. For the time being, only six people at a time can use their phones, but next year this will go up to 12.