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

Stylish and colourful 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 today 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.”

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 organisation that supports the Qi wireless charging standard.

This group comprises 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.

Nokia will be staging wireless charging customer experience demonstrations at London Heathrow Clubhouses from November 1st 2012 to January 31st 2013.

Nokia staff will be on hand to showcase the new Nokia Windows Phone range and accessories to the VIP lounge visitors.