British Airways permits gadget use during take-offs and landings

British Airways has announced that starting today; it will allow passengers to use their electronic gadgets during take-off and landing.

BA would be the first airline in Europe to allow gadget use in 'flight safety' or offline mode.

A BA flight training manager Ian Pringle said that easing of restrictions would provide an average of 30 minutes' additional personal screen time, the BBC reports.

According to the report, with around 300 people on a long-haul flight the new move would mean a combined total of approximately 150 hours' extra viewing, reading or working.

However, one expert who advises Parliament on aviation issues, Laurie Price expressed reservations about the move and said that this kind of activity has probably been happening surreptitiously anyway, so they are merely formalising what has been occurring, and policing it has been difficult.

Price further said that if the flight is taking off or about to land one should probably be concentrating on that event just in case anything were to go awry, adding that any distractions may lead to accidents.