In an announcement released by the European Union (EU), cellphone users will soon be able to make calls while flying in a plane. Travelers will be allowed to send text messages, emails and make voice calls using their GSM phones.

The new service will include a cellular station onboard planes and is expected to roll out later on this year. The EU approved of the plan to roll out the midair service today but indicated that a number of problems still exists. For example, travelers will not be able to turn on their phones during takeoff, and are only permitted to use their phones once the plane reaches a minimum altitude of 10,000 feet. The EU said that several airlines have already signed to launch the project, including Air France-KLM. Trials are already in place on some European flight routes.

In the United States and other countries, using cellphones are still prohibited during flight because of concern that onboard communications may be disrupted. Up until today however, there aren’t any conclusive evidence for midair cellphone disruptions.

"In-flight mobile phone services can be a very interesting new service especially for those business travelers who need to be ready to communicate wherever they are. However, if consumers receive shock phone bills, the service will not take off," said Viviane Reding, the EU’s telecommunications commissioner.

While the announcement by the EU would be a positive thing for many business travelers, there are those that still oppose the service. Germany’s Lufthansa airline said today that it will not include the service because a large majority of its customers were against it. "People don’t want to be disturbed," said Jan Baerwalde, spokesman forLufthansa.

A EU spokesman said that even though the service allows travelers to use their cellphones, airlines will still adhere to strict inflight rules.

"It doesn’t mean you can leave your mobile phones switched on now during the flight, we have to make that absolutely clear," said the spokesman. "First wait [for] what your airline tells you when you board the plane. Until further notice the usual reminders to switch off your phone on the aircraft will remain in place."

During long flights — or even short ones for that matter — many travelers prefer to fly in silence. These days, many travelers use noise-canceling headphones during flights to cancel out noise. Even still, these headphones do not cancel out the frequency range that the human voice exists in and only neutralizes the low frequency hum from the plane itself.