The GCHQ and NSA have spied on air passengers using in-flight GSM mobile services for years. The news was revealed by new documents obtained by Edward Snowden and published by The Intercept. The spy agencies could target passengers through the Thieving Magpie programme. The surveillance program allows data collection in near real time, spies can track aircraft every two minutes while in flight. According to Le Monde, the CIA was especially interested in Air France and Air Mexico flights because they are potential targets for terrorists.”]
Source: http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/54192/intelligence/thieving-magpie-programme.html