China Boosts In-flight Internet Connectivity on Commercial Airplanes

BEIJING -- China has been promoting in-flight network connectivity services on commercial airplanes, a key move in building a smart civil aviation industry, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

A recently issued tech roadmap showed the development path for the new-generation broadband communication technologies in the civil aviation industry.

In the tech roadmap, the CAAC proposed for the first time the implementation path of a new generation of aviation broadband communication technologies represented by 5G technology.

The roadmap also offers tech guidance for industry players, aiming to help boost the coordinated development and comprehensive application of broadband-centered aviation communication technologies.

Thanks to constant progress and implementation of modern technologies, the in-flight internet surfing experience has been greatly enhanced from cabin local network initially to higher speed broadband connectivity.

As of the end of June, a total of 769 commercial airplanes of 21 Chinese airlines had been equipped with in-flight internet services, up 18 percent from 2020, CAAC data shows.

The move of building smart civil aviation is expected to provide new space for industry development and drive the industry to grow in a high-quality and high-efficiency manner.

In the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), the CAAC will integrate the "smart" concept and technologies into industry growth, in diversified fields such as new infrastructure construction and industry digital transformation.

In 2020, China remained the world's second-largest civil-aviation market in terms of passenger throughput for the 15th consecutive year.

China's civil aviation is in a new stage of historical development, aviation transportation has steadily and rapidly improved in speed, quality and efficiency, its proportion in the national comprehensive transportation system has increased year by year, the total turnover of air transportation has continued to rank second in the world since 2005. With the rapid growth of the domestic civil aviation market and the impact of emerging business models such as online tourism on the company's traditional business, the traditional management and operation methods have been unable to match the company's development requirements. CAAC issued the Implementation Opinions of CAAC on Promoting the Construction of New Infrastructure and Promoting the High-Quality Development of Civil Aviation and the Five-Year Action Plan of CAAC on Promoting the Construction of New Infrastructure, Guided by "digital perception, data decision-making, lean management and meticulous service", with the construction of industry infrastructure base and smart ecology as the core, select key environments and application scenarios, and lay the foundation for accelerating the digital operation of civil aviation industry through concept innovation, mechanism innovation, process innovation and technological innovation.

Under this background, Aviation Digital Operation Technology International Forum 2021 is planned to be held in Xiamen city from November 18 to 19, 2021, the theme of this forum is “Focus on digital empowerment and accelerate the intelligent development and reform of civil aviation in China”, pay attention to the multi-domain and multi-agent digital transformation and intelligent upgrading of airlines, hub airports and operation support units, focus on the main contents of smart travel, smart logistics, smart operation, smart supervision, public services and innovation infrastructure, improve aircraft operation safety, operation efficiency and production organization capacity, and promote the high-quality development of the industry. Register your interest or get in touch with Lucy for more details.