January 18 news, in the future, travelers can fly without turning off the phone, but also surf the Internet . 17, China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines announced that passengers on flights can use cell phones, tablet computers (Pad), laptops, e-readers and other portable electronic devices (PEDs), and other airlines have also said that they are urgently pushing forward! The company's website is also available on the Internet.
Air China and other airlines also said in the grasp of the assessment, improve the program
With the rapid development of the mobile Internet, the public on the plane to use portable electronic devices, especially the use of cell phones is increasingly strong demand for the plane can be used to surf the Internet on the phone has become a hot topic in recent years.
The fifth revision of the domestic "Large Aircraft Public **** Air Transport Carrier Operation Qualification Validation Rules", which came into effect on October 10, 2017, makes it clear that air carriers decide on their own whether to open up the use of cell phones and other electronic devices on board.On January 16, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced the "Guidelines for the Evaluation of the Use of In-flight Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs)" (referred to as: "Guidelines").
According to the requirements of the above regulations, China Eastern Airlines said it has completed the formulation of the relevant "landing rules". HNA also said that it has completed the revision of its policy and operational procedures, as well as the training of its flight crew, in response to the liberalization of portable electronic devices.
While only two of these airlines have announced the liberalization. Spring Airlines said on the same day, it is expected that in the first half of the year, passengers will be conditional on the use of cell phones and other electronic devices on board the plane. 17 evening, Spring Airlines related responsible person told reporters, "We are grasping the time to assess." Air China also said, "is further improving the relevant work program."
What portable electronic devices are being opened up by the airline?
The reporter noted that both China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines announced the liberalization of portable electronic devices (PEDs) such as cell phones, tablet computers (pads), laptops, e-readers and so on.
According to the Guidelines, portable electronic devices (PEDs) refer to electronic devices that can be carried around, powered by electricity and held in the hand. Examples include laptops, tablets, e-books, cell phones, video players, and video game consoles.
What features do open electronic devices require?
According to the requirements of the relevant regulations, China Eastern Airlines has made it clear that cell phones (smartphones) with flight mode and small PED devices such as portable computers or tablets within the specified dimensions, e-books, video/audio players, and electronic game consoles need to be opened to the flight mode of the cell phone to turn off the cellular mobile communication function.
Lin Zhijie, a civil aviation expert, said in an interview with reporters that opening the flight mode and turning off the cellular mobile communication function will become the basic prerequisite for subsequent airline companies to liberalize the use of in-flight cell phones and other devices for safety reasons.
According to him, most foreign airlines follow the opening of the flight mode to implement, a small number of airlines allow the use of cellular signals, and even in the low altitude stage can receive phone calls. But there should be a gradual exploration process at home for safety reasons.
What types of cell phones and other electronic devices are still banned?
The airline made it clear that cell phones and other devices that do not have a flight mode are still prohibited in the air.
In addition, portable computers, PADs and other large PED devices that exceed the specified size can only be used during the cruise phase of the aircraft, and are prohibited during the critical phases of the flight, such as taxiing, takeoff, descent and landing.
Lin believes that with the gradual development of technology and the accumulation of operational data, these prohibited items are likely to be gradually liberalized.
Which special cases are prohibited?
The use of portable electronic devices should be prohibited in the following special cases, except for EFBs (electronic flight bag), which are recognized as necessary to ensure flight safety: first, low visibility flight phases (Class II and III approaches and landings, and low visibility takeoffs); and, second, when an aircraft is suspected of being interfered with by a portable electronic device.
The guidelines state that all PEDs on board (with the exception of medical electronic devices such as pacemakers and portable oxygen concentrators) must be disabled when there is interference with on-board navigation and communication equipment, or when the flight crew is instructed to do so in an emergency.
The Guide emphasizes that during the flight, when the captain finds that there is electronic interference and suspects that the interference comes from the portable electronic devices used by the crew on board, the captain and the captain's authorized personnel should be required to turn off these portable electronic devices; the seriousness of the situation should be handed over to the ground public security organs after the aircraft has landed according to the law, and reported to the Civil Aviation Administration afterwards.
Will cell phones be able to access the Internet in the air after the opening?
China Eastern Airlines said that passengers choose to take China Eastern Airlines to provide Wi-Fi service aircraft, in advance in the APP or official website to apply for a login password, passengers can open the cell phone after boarding the Wi-Fi function to connect to the Internet. At present, China Eastern Airlines has 74 airplanes with in-flight Wi-Fi, covering all international long-haul routes and 166 key domestic business routes.
The latest survey by Inmarsat shows that in-flight WiFi has become the third most important factor affecting passengers' choices after the price of air tickets and flight times. The reporter noted that China's air WiFi is still in the pilot budding stage, with most of the air WiFi planes from China Eastern Airlines, but other air carriers are speeding up the follow-up.
The National Civil Aviation Work Conference proposed that high-altitude mobile terminal access to LAN or Internet services will be piloted in 2018. Encourage airline companies in the cabin wireless LAN aircraft, to achieve passengers with their own mobile terminal access to the cabin entertainment information system; in the cabin air-to-ground communication capabilities of the aircraft, to achieve air access to the Internet, so that passengers have WIFI in the air.
Experts believe that the liberalization of cell phone use in-flight will greatly promote the development of domestic WIFI in the air, and within one or two years will see significant progress. According to China Civil Aviation, China Southern Airlines, Air China, Xiamen Airlines and Hainan Airlines have all upgraded from their original LAN to Ku satellite in-flight Internet. It is expected that by 2021, China's in-flight Internet fleet size is expected to approach 50 percent of the total fleet size, exceeding 2,400 aircraft.
Will there be a charge for in-flight Internet access, and is it expensive?
In the future, after cell phones are connected to the Internet via satellite devices, travelers will be able to shop, book shuttle flights, book hotels, watch news, make video calls, chat on WeChat and QQ, brush up on microblogging, and send and receive emails in the air.
For travelers concerned about whether the air Internet charges, expensive or not. Combing found that the air WiFi of China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Air China and Hainan Airlines are currently not charged. Lin Zhijie said that at present, the cost of aircraft Internet access is relatively high, if the airline company in order to attract passengers to buy tickets, there is no question of charging passengers, or a nominal fee.
"But if the carrier sees it as a profit-making project, it will take the form of charging passengers directly or charging advertisers and other channels." For now, he said, some domestic carriers may subsequently take to charging travelers directly for traffic.
It is understood that at present, the most important revenue of global airlines' in-flight interconnection is the data traffic or Internet hourly fee.
But experts believe that opening up the use of cell phones may be disruptive to the in-flight audio-visual entertainment equipment industry. Airline companies can also develop the future of live content, on-demand video, air mall, in-flight networking as a carrier of advertising and other revenue.