The ninth C919 for China Eastern arrived last week, carrying a bit of a passenger experience boost. It is the first C919 for the carrier to feature a streaming entertainment solution on board.
The offering is described in several reports as delivering Wi-Fi to passengers. While the entertainment content is delivered on a Wi-Fi network, it is a decidedly offline system and not what would typically be described as a Wi-Fi service.
China Eastern says it has developed a custom content collection for the aircraft. That content will be updated regularly and expanded. The airline also expects to retrofit its existing C919 fleet with the new service once the trial is completed.
Maybe eventually internet on the C919?
The carrier suggests the system could have an internet link added at a later time. This could be either a satellite or terrestrial solution. Multiple providers are competing to make both of those options viable in the Chinese market. But they’ve also been doing so for more than five years, with little to show for the efforts, at least for short-haul planes.
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China Eastern is no stranger to delivering inflight connectivity. Its long-haul fleet has been fitted for several years. Extending that to the C919 is not beyond the realm of possibility.
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But, like nearly all the other domestic/regional planes flying there, getting a solution on to these C919s remains a long-term project, not something to be expected in the near future.
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