Nokia has partnered with Virgin Atlantic to offer wireless charging facilities at its London Heathrow Clubhouse for passengers who want to recharge their phones before a flight.

Nokia wireless charging plates will initially be introduced in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at London Heathrow later this year. Nokia and Virgin Atlantic also plan to expand wireless charging to the JFK Clubhouse at a later date.

Nokia on Wednesday announced in New York that its Windows Phone 8 flagship smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 920, would be its first smartphone with in-built wireless charging, while the new Nokia Lumia 820 benefits from wireless charging via a removable and exchangeable shell.

"Virgin Atlantic is putting passengers first by removing a major anxiety, particularly for business travellers, how to keep their phone charged throughout a long day," said Jo Harlow, Executive Vice President, Smart Devices, Nokia. "The Virgin deal is a first step in our plan to make wireless charging as ubiquitous as Wi-Fi is today."

Chris Rossi, Senior Vice President, Virgin Atlantic North America said, "Our Upper Class passengers choose Virgin Atlantic because they understand that we aim to deliver a memorable experience every time that they fly with us. We constantly look for ways to enhance their overall experience through partnering with companies such as Nokia to let them experience new technologies in our clubhouses. Our passengers will be able to wirelessly charge their phone while catching up on email, sipping a cocktail or enjoying a massage in our clubhouse spa!"

Wireless charging provides a convenient way to top-up a phone while relaxing in the lounge so that phones can be used for listening to music, playing games or watching movies during the flight.

Nokia is part of the Wireless Power Consortium, an organization that supports the Qi wireless charging standard. This group is comprised of a number of operators, service providers, component suppliers and consumer electronics companies that have pledged their support to Qi and are working together to build an infrastructure ecosystem that will make it possible to charge wirelessly throughout the day. The Nokia wireless charging plates are able to charge any smartphone with wireless charging capabilities based on the Qi standard.