A South African low-cost airline, Kulula, operating on major domestic routes airline has announced that moving forward passengers can use their “portable electronic devices during all phases of their flight journey.”

Kulula’s head of marketing, Shaun Pozyn, made this known  in the official statement (via TechCentral).

“We have worked very closely with the South African Aviation authority to approve this new policy on our aircraft, which is a significant enhancement to our customer experience on board. In short, this means that passengers can now use their devices as soon as they set foot on board our aircraft and keep them on for their entire journey,” the statement reads.

According to a suggestion from an Online media, ‘Critical life style’ that the airline still requires devices to be in “flight mode” or essentially have their cellular connections switched off, but it’s a great step forward in this regard. 

It hinted that heavier devices like laptops will still need to be stowed in overhead bins or under seats during take-off and landing as these items “could impede evacuation of an aircraft or may injure you or someone else in the event of turbulence or an accident”.

For phones, music players and more important handheld gaming devices, one is free to use the entire journey, though it perhaps goes without saying that it’s probably not a good idea to be glued to your screens while trying to get on or off your flight.