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Wi-Fi poised for takeoff on Chinese airlines
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SIX-YEAR-OLD Mao Xuanwei took a flight alone for the first time last month, going from Shanghai to Beijing while her parents stayed behind for business.
What might normally have been a nerve-wracking flight for such a young girl was made much more palatable because she was able to enjoy a real-time video conversation in the air with her mother through China’s first onboard Wi-Fi service.
Mao was one of 50 passengers invited by China Eastern Airlines to try the new service free. The airline is using the collective experience to find out what passengers want from the service.
Mao showed her mother her new toys in front of the iPad camera with help from the cabin crew during the 90-minute flight, while other passengers were conversing on WeChat, surfing the Internet and checking e-mails.
“I told my friends I was chatting with them in the air and they were amazed,” said a passenger surnamed Lin.
As the first domestic airline to launch Wi-Fi service in the air, China Eastern released a survey over the weekend among the first batch of passengers invited to use the in-flight service. A total of 727 passengers were interviewed for the survey about their experience.
Passengers split almost evenly three ways when asked about paying for the Wi-Fi service. About 35 percent said they preferred to be charged a flat rate if they use Wi-Fi. For instance, a Shanghai-Beijing flight might cost 50 yuan (US$8.33) to use the Wi-Fi all through the journey.
One-third said they would pay if the flight charged by the hour. They suggested the price be the same as the airport charges on the ground.
The rest said they would not choose to pay for the service or the flight unless new and cheaper ways to charge were released, according to the survey.
As to how they used the Wi-Fi, 74 percent of passengers said they checked e-mail, 72 percent said they used instant communication tools such as WeChat and 60 percent reported surfing the Internet to kill time during the journey.
“Most passengers on the Shanghai-Beijing route are business travelers so they rely more on Wi-Fi service, mainly to check e-mails,” said Zhang Chi, an official with China Eastern in charge of the survey.
According to another survey made by carnoc.com, which is the China civil aviation resource website, only 35 percent of Chinese passengers are willing to pay to use in-flight Wi-Fi.
“Flights were the last place in my world without the bother of WeChat and e-mails that could soon be invaded,” said a local white-collar worker surnamed Liu, who takes frequent flights abroad. Liu said she would rather read books or talk with friends in the air.
Shanghai-based China Eastern began testing the onboard Wi-Fi service on the Airbus 330 in mid-September. It’s provided by a China Telecom satellite. Passengers can switch on their laptops and tablet computers once the aircraft reaches a cruising altitude of 3,000 meters, but they will not be allowed to use mobile phones.
The Wi-Fi service will be suspended for takeoff, landing and during turbulence to ensure passenger safety, as users might be distracted by their electronic devices.
The speed of the service can reach 32 megabits per second, and users will be able to browse web pages, use the WeChat messaging platform and do a spot of online shopping even when 200 passengers are using the service simultaneously.
If about 50 or fewer passengers are using the service, they can hold video conversations, tests found.
Liu Kunqiang, head of the carrier’s publicity department, said China Eastern will install the Wi-Fi equipment on all 20 new Boeing 777 aircraft it bought this month, which will fly both domestic and international routes.
The service was free during the trial through the end of September. Now the carrier and China Telecom are negotiating on how much to charge during commercial operations.
Worldwide, about 30 foreign airlines offer onboard Wi-Fi service, including the pioneering United Airlines, Virgin Pacific and Air France. Prices range from US$4 to US$15 per hour.
United Airlines charges about US$4 for a standard Wi-Fi connection and US$6 for a faster service. Germany’s Lufthansa charges US$15 per hour — one of the most expensive carriers for Wi-Fi service.
Emirates Airlines includes Wi-Fi on all its 21 Airbus 380 Superjumbos. The luxury airline allows passengers to use mobile phones at a charge of US$2.50 per hour, and laptop users can choose a US$10 limited package to use the onboard Wi-Fi.
Industry insiders estimate the emerging Wi-Fi service can bring US$1.2 billion in annual revenues to Chinese domestic airlines if about 35 percent of passengers choose to use the service at a price of about US$10 per hour.
China Southern Airlines has also received the approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to offer in-flight Wi-Fi. It plans to launch a trial soon on its Guangzhou-Beijing route.
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