Budget airline Ryanair has become the first European carrier to introduce a mobile phone service that will allow passengers to send and receive in-flight calls and text messages.

Although the service has initially been launched on 20 aircraft, the majority of which will operate on routes into Dublin, Ireland, the company says that it is the first phase of plans to roll-out the concept throughout its entire fleet of more than 170 aircraft. The service will only be available to O2 and Vodafone customers in Ireland, along with 50 other European network operators, to start with, but it is hoped that other domestic networks will soon follow.

Ryanair chief executive, Michael O'Leary, said: "We expect customer demand for this service to grow rapidly and hope that customers of all Irish mobile operators will soon be able to call or text home from 30,000ft."