Aeroflot has signed a deal with a top Russian mobile operator to set up cell phone services on board its aircraft, Russia's flagship airline said in a statement on Thursday.
The agreement with MegaFon, Russia's third-largest cell phone company, means Aeroflot will become the first Russian airline to give its passengers the opportunity to make mobile calls while in flight.
Four Aeroflot planes will be equipped the new communications hubs in 2010.
"Businessmen are frequent passengers on Aeroflot. For them the possibility of making calls onboard is not a whim, it is a necessity," Aeroflot CEO Vitaliy Savelyev said, adding that customers' comfort is Aeroflot's main priority.
The airline carries more than 10 million people annually and a further 2 million on its subsidiaries. It has more than 115 aircraft serving 856 destinations in 169 countries.
The statement said that in line with the law, mobile phone calls will be permitted at altitudes of over 3,000 meters.
"This innovative project lifts mobile communication service in Russia to a new level," MegaFon CEO Sergei Soldatenkov said.
MegaFon has 51.6 million registered subscribers in Russia.
MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti)
