Chinese Airlines Upgrade In-Flight WiFi: Ground-to-Air and Satellite Paths

Key points

• China Eastern wide-body passengers can already enjoy smooth in-flight internet at 10,000 metres.
• Experts say domestic airlines' in-flight WiFi meets airworthiness safety standards, with strict frequency and physical isolation between avionics and passenger WiFi.
• Aircraft connectivity mainly follows two technical paths: ground-to-air communication and satellite communication.
• Ground-to-air is mature, lower-cost and lower-latency, with speeds near ground 4G, but depends on ground base stations and loses signal over oceans, plateaus and deserts.
• Satellite communication offers wide coverage unrestricted by terrain or routes, but latency can exceed half a second, making video calls and online gaming difficult.
• Chinese civil aviation mainly relies on high-orbit satellite communication, while some foreign carriers have adopted low-orbit satellite systems.
• China SatNet and Shanghai Yuanxin Satellite have each launched more than 200 low-orbit satellites cumulatively, with global constellation coverage expected within the year.
• Since 3 July this year, China Eastern economy passengers on global wide-body flights can use standard in-flight WiFi free, while first and business class get high-speed service free.