Chinese Airlines Upgrade In-Flight WiFi: Ground-to-Air and Satellite Paths
China Tourism News republished a People's Daily report that some Chinese airlines are upgrading in-flight WiFi. China Eastern wide-body passengers can already enjoy smooth connectivity. Experts say in-flight WiFi meets airworthiness safety standards, with strict frequency and physical isolation between avionics and passenger WiFi. Two main connectivity paths exist: ground-to-air, which is cheaper and lower-latency but base-station dependent, and satellite, which offers wide coverage but higher latency. Chinese civil aviation mainly relies on high-orbit satellites while accelerating low-orbit constellation buildout.