China’s biggest airlines are rolling out free in-flight Wi-Fi to regain business travellers who have increasingly opted for high-speed trains, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.

China Eastern Airlines on October 11 launched a free “basic” Wi-Fi service across all its widebody aircraft operating on domestic routes, a company representative said, speaking anonymously in line with corporate rules. The rollout covers 37 routes linking major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Kunming and Wuhan.

Air China and China Southern Airlines—two of China Eastern’s main competitors—already provide complimentary Wi-Fi on smaller portions of their domestic fleets, the representative added.

“We’ve had ‘work from home’, and now a lot of business travellers are changing the phr

See Full Page