Air travelers can expect better mobile services

An Air China official holds an Internet conference on the airliner's flight CA4116 in April. Air China and Hainan Airlines Co Ltd have sought permission to test in-flight connectivity. Photos by Wang Zemin for China Daily

Chinese airlines show interests in in-flight WiFi system 

Mobile devices have become part of people's daily life nowadays and many passengers bring their devices aboard, but without in-flight WiFi service, they only can play Angry Birds game during the boring flight period. That will change on the flights of Air China Ltd. The company signed an agreement with Honeywell Aerospace, part of Honeywell International Inc. It will test from the second quarter 2015 the Global Xpress (GX) Aviation system on its fleet of A330 aircraft.

GX Aviation is a high-speed Ka-band in-flight connectivity service powered by GX Ka-band satellite network of Inmarsat Plc, a communications firm established in 1979 by the International Maritime Organization to enable ships to stay in touch with the shore or call for help.

With the technology, passengers can expect a 60 percent faster download speed compared with now.

The first GX satellite was launched in December 2013, Bill Peltola, Inmarsat's aviation vice president said. The second and third GX satellites are scheduled for launch by year-end.

Those three satellites will span the globe and provide a more stable signal.

There are two different solutions to provide in-flight connectivity services currently, either through ground bases or satellites.

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