Air China Pilots In-flight WiFi Service

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　　Air China has become the nation's first domestic carrier to take the exciting step of offering customers in-flight WiFi internet.

 

　　Passengers on board a recent Beijing to Chengdu flight have become the first customers to surf the net.

 

　　CRI's Xie Zhao Reports:

 

　　The new service enables passengers to surf the internet, check e-mails, and browse¹ microblogs on board.

 

　　Doctor Ding Xiaoyu is from the China Civil Aviation Management Institute.

 

　　He says before offering in-flight services, the plane should be tested using strict procedures.

 

　　"When the plane takes off and lands, we should check whether every system installed on the plane is working correctly. When the airline is sure that every system is running well, the in-fight service can get approval to be applied²."

 

　　So far, several international civil aviation carriers have offered in-flight broadband Internet access.

 

　　Air China began its trial of the in-fight service in 2010.

 

　　Zhang Yun is director at the on-board internet office of Air China.

 

　　He says that technically³ speaking, the in-flight service is the same as household wifi.

 

　　However, in-fight WIFI services can only be offered when the plane reaches an altitude of 3000 meters or more, in order to protect passenger safety.

 

　　"The email service can be used soon. You can register a NetEase email. Then you can send and receive email to your friends. Meanwhile, users can also browse updated news. "

 

　　Several domestic civil aviation carriers have previously⁴ offered the internet services to passengers.

 

　　Jiang Qiping, is secretary-general at the information research center at the Chinese Academy of social sciences.

 

　　He says the previous service was only local area network technology.

 

　　He says if the in-flight service operates well, it is likely to becmme a trend on other airlines.

 

　　"The previous service was a small scale trial operation. If the in-fight service can go through trial operation, it can be applied on a larger scale in the future."

 

　　Insiders say some international civil aviation carriers may charge passengers when they use the service on board.

 

　　This could cost a few dollars per hour.

 

　　But so far, Air China has not mentioned any plans to charge for the service.

 

　　For CRI This is XZ.

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