Airline passengers throughout the European Union (EU) will be allowed to use their mobiles during a flight without having to put them into airplane mode.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) says the use of tablets, laptops, e-readers, MP3 players and phones will be at airlines discretion from now on.

Carriers will need to certify their planes are not affected by transmission signals before allowing devices to be used.

The EASA says that for this reason "there may be differences among airlines whether and when portable electronic devices can be used."

"This is the latest regulatory step towards enabling the ability to offer 'gate-to-gate' telecommunication or wifi services," it adds.

This measure follows initial action from the EASA in December 2013, toward permitting the use of portable electronic devices through almost all stages of flight, when the 'airplane mode' not transmitting was allowed.