The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced Friday that portable electronic devices or PEDs will be allowed to be turned on and connected while an European aircraft is in flight.

With the new EASA rule, European airlines are permitted to let passengers use their personal electronic devices such as  a tablets, laptops, smartphones, e-readers or MP3 players onboard without turning it off or setting it to "Airplane Mode" if the aircraft is about to take off and while in flight.

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Previous rules required passengers to have their electronic devices set on Airplane mode or turned off so as not to interrupt transmissions of signals and messages to and from the aircraft. But the September 26 announcement follows initial guidelines issued December 2013 regarding the use of electronic devices in all stages of flight.

EASA said airlines will first undergo a safety assessment process to make sure PED signals will not interrupt their aircrafts' transmission signals. Despite the EASA announcement that PEDs are allowed to be used in-flight, passengers must take heed of airline guidelines as airline companies still retain the discretion to permit the use of the devices.

Upon passing and completing the safety assessment, airlines are required to install additional equipment inside the plane to provide the passengers a signal while they are at high altitudes.

EASA has advised passengers to always bear in mind the basic regulations to be followed before and during the flight. These include checking the airline's website for the use of PEDs, paying attention and complying with the safety briefing before flight take off and following airline crew instructions for safety purposes.

TagsEASA, European Aviation Space Agency, ped's, Personal electronics devices