BA eases flight curbs on hand-held devices

[LONDON] British Airways (BA) has become the first airline in Europe to allow their passengers to keep their phones and tablet computers switched on throughout their journey, the company said on Wednesday.

Although travellers will still not be allowed to text or make phone calls, the agreement with Britain's Civil Aviation Authority lifts the current restrictions that require devices to be turned off until the aircraft is airborne and again when the aircraft is about to land.

Customers will, however, still have to put devices into "flight safe" mode, which disables texts, phone calls and network access, the airline said. Wednesday's changes do not include laptops.