[HarryT]

I guess it depends how far you're flying. On a 45 minute flight from Manchester to Paris it doesn't really matter if there's power, but it's useful on a 5h flight from London to Cairo (and EgyptAir planes always do seem to provide USB sockets). I'm almost certain it was there too on the last short-haul flight I did a month or so ago from Manchester to Munich with Lufthansa. The airlines I fly with most commonly in Europe are British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa.