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China Eastern puts Wi-Fi on the sky on trial
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CHINA’S first flight with Wi-Fi service could achieve video conversations, albeit with an average speed of 2 megabytes per second, but was unstable during turbulence.
China Eastern Airlines yesterday carried out tests of its latest service on an Airbus 330 aircraft from Shanghai to Beijing with 80-odd invited passengers who could access the Internet from a Wi-Fi provided by a telecommunications satellite.
The airlines said it would invite more passengers on the Shanghai-Beijing route till the end of September to try out their Wi-Fi. About 30 passengers will be selected randomly or through its official microblog to try out the Wi-Fi on flights.
The local carrier said currently only two A330 aircraft offers Wi-Fi and there are plans to add more on the same route.
The carrier will expand the service on more domestic and international routes from September after it adds over 20 new B777 aircraft fitted with Wi-Fi.
The test flight MU5101 took off from Hongqiao International Airport yesterday at around 8am and arrived at the Beijing Capital International Airport around 10am.
Passengers were allowed to switch on their laptops and tablet computers to use the Wi-Fi after the aircraft reached a cruising altitude of 3,000 meters. Passengers were given passwords to access the service.
However, passengers still could not use mobile phones on the flight.
The Wi-Fi service however was unstable during turbulence and it was suspended “to ensure the safety of the passengers,” the airlines said. Wi-Fi was also discontinued during takeoff and landing as well.
The service is free during the trial period but the carrier and China Telecom will charge a fee during regular commercial operations, the director of the internet communication department of China Eastern said.
Foreign airlines charge between US$5 and US$10 for an hour for their onboard Wi-Fi services but some of the passengers said it was expensive and would only use the service for emergencies.
“I won’t pay even if the price was 10 yuan per hour to use the Wi-Fi because I can watch movies or read newspapers to kill time onboard,” said a passenger surnamed Wang.
But most passengers on the test flight said they used the Wi-Fi service to check emails or chat with friends.
Technically, the Wi-Fi speed can reach 32 megabytes per second. But users will only be able to browse web pages, use WeChat and online shopping when about 200 passengers use the service at the same time. The tests found that video conversations like facetime works only when around 50 passengers use the service.
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