In-flight wifi is coming to Chinese airlines

In exciting connectivity news, it seems on-board wifi might be available the next time you fly on a Chinese airline. Following the lift on the in-flight smartphone ban in China, due to be implemented either at the end of this year or early next year according to The Independent, Chinese airlines are set to start providing better connectivity on flights.

The current smartphone ban on Chinese planes, a restriction which has been lifted in many countries already, doesn't prohibit passengers from using their tablets, so wifi has been introduced to some airlines, albeit with certain limitations. China Eastern, for example, currently offers wifi to the first 50 passengers who register and China Southern offers it to only ten. The former, along with Air China and Spring Airlines, plan to provide full coverage in the next year or two.

Airlines are seeing profit opportunities in the move to offer connectivity on board, as demand for wifi is becoming a priority for China's growing number of smartphone owners. China Eastern already has 40 planes kitted out with wifi and is planning to add 70 more by 2018, and Spring Airlines is planning to install wifi on two of its 60 aircrafts by the end of the year.