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Airlines are stepping up the pressure for their passengers to be allowed to use cellphones in-flight.
The Civil Aviation Authority says it has had "informal approaches" from airlines wanting to use technology in New Zealand airspace that allows cellphone access on flights.
"Qantas and Emirates are interested in fitting the technology to some aircraft," said Toby Farmer, CAA aeronautical services officer telecommunications.
So far, New Zealand aviation authorities have resisted approaches from airlines, citing unresolved safety and operational issues. Until now, cellphones have been banned because of the risk of interfering with navigational systems.
"The CAA position is that rule 91.7 says that cellphones can't be used on aeroplanes. Until we are totally convinced it is safe to do otherwise, we are sticking with that," Farmer said.
"From a safety point of view, we have to be certain that having these things on board will have no effect on the safety of the aircraft. There are all sorts of problems which have to be resolved."
The issue has been discussed by the Aviation Spectrum Group, comprising aviation industry experts and including the NZ Defence Force and Ministry of Economic Development.
Some airlines want to install "pico cell" technology on aircraft to pick up and filter phone signals from the ground.
Qantas has been running a trial in Australia since April, allowing passengers on one plane to send and receive emails and texts.
A Qantas spokesman said the trial would end in February and, so far, the feedback from passengers had been "very positive".
"At the end of the trial it will be evaluated as to its applicability over the Qantas fleet, including in New Zealand," he said.
Emirates, which operates four flights a day from New Zealand, hoped to launch the cellphone service on board one of its Boeing 777s from January this year, but is still waiting for approval.
It wants to be the first airline to introduce in-flight cellphone use across its fleet.
It says cabin staff and information videos will encourage passengers to switch their phones to silent or vibrate mode during flights.
"Cabin crew will have full control over the system, including the ability to prevent voice calls at certain times such as during night flights," Emirates said.
The airline also plans to install technology to use BlackBerrys and laptop PCs for email and internet access.
Farmer pointed out United States authorities were opposed to cellphones on planes and until such time as it was deemed safe, aircraft using New Zealand airspace would have to adhere to New Zealand rules.
While the airlines are pushing for phones on board planes, it is less clear how much demand there is from passengers.
"A lot of people are keen to have cellphones on planes and a lot are keen to not have them," Farmer said. "There have been surveys and the majority of passengers don't want it. People tend to shout into cellphones, there are annoying ring tones, all those sorts of issues.
"Cabin crew are particularly concerned about it. They have the job of monitoring people."
