November 14, 2015 – China Eastern Airlines has become the first Chinese carrier to launch inflight connectivity on international flights. The airline, which, in partnership with China Telecom Satellite, was also the first to offer wi-fi on domestic flights, has installed Panasonic’s eXConnect Ku-band inflight connectivity system on its newest Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.
The service will initially be offered on the airline’s services from Shanghai to New York, Los Angeles and Toronto, and rolled out on other routes including San Francisco and Vancouver in December. It will also be offered on the airline’s domestic services including Shanghai to Beijing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Chengdu and Chongqing. By the end of 2015, inflight connectivity will be available on 20 of China Eastern’s aircraft.
Zhang Chi, deputy director of China Eastern Airlines’ transformation office said, “The goal of the China Eastern Airlines transformation office is to transform our inflight experience from a traditional air transport experience into a modern, integrated and connected service. For China Eastern Airlines, inflight connectivity and wi-fi go beyond allowing passengers to be connected to Internet; it also dramatically improves our service model. With a connected aircraft, all of our the service support systems will be linked and available to the passengers in real-time, which will allow us to curate an even better experience for our guests.”
