[VIDEO] Mobile Phone Use Finally Permitted on Chinese Airlines
After years of waiting and lagging behind much of the world, China has finally delivered on a promise to end its ban on mobile phone use during commercial air travel.
Passengers have now been allowed to use their mobile phones during certain Chinese flight so long as their phone is set to "flight mode."
The ban reversal came into effect Thursday morning with Hainan Airlines becoming the first Chinese carrier to take advantage of the new policy by allowing mobile phone use on a Wednesday flight that landed in Beijing just after midnight.
So far, China Eastern Airlines is the largest Chinese carrier to authorize cell phone use on its flights. As of Thursday, Air China hasn't said it will initiate the policy on its planes.
That's not how you take a selfie ...
Passengers aboard Hainan Airlines HU7781 (see photo at top and video below) were ecstatic that they were able to go online during their flight, calling it "convenient" as well as "miraculous."
The smiles and lit-up phones lie in stark contrast to the way passengers were treated for violating the phone ban. Last year, three passengers were detained for using their mobile phone during a Chinese flight as was an Air China passenger back in 2012.
Despite implementing punishments that include a 50,000 yuan fine, authorities have reconsidered the ban in the wake of China's boom in air travel. As far back as 2014, various reports have claimed that authorities will relent and overturn the phone ban in late-2015, then 2016, and then 2017, only to have their deadlines pass by.
Experts aware of the situation didn't have the words to explain the hold-up. "In China, it's unique. All we can say is it's complicated," said China Satcom deputy director Yong Chai.
It turns out that China's massive market for mobile phones have helped proliferate cheap, knockoff phones made with inferior standards that don't block out signals even when placed in airplane mode.
... this is how you take a selfie!
Some domestic mobile phone manufacturers developed their phones' airplane mode in the absence of a national guideline, said Ma Yudong from the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s Hubei Security Management Bureau.
"You can use any mobile phone to dial an emergency hotline even if it has no SIM card or is in airplane mode, which means it can search or send signals under these conditions," said Zhang Chen, aviation security controller with China Eastern Airlines.
Although passengers have the money to pay for an air travel ticket, it seems they may not be so willing to pay for a mobile phone that adheres to national standards. "We cannot guarantee if devices are high quality,” Yong said.
Although this reason hasn't been widely reported, it helps explain a few strange things about the travel ban if it is true.
Unlike their electronic counterparts, laptop computers and other personal electronic devices that don't make phone calls were excluded from the air travel ban. Additionally, a pilot project to offer Wi-Fi service to air passengers didn't allow them to use smartphones, all but rendering the service redundant to China's millions of internet users who exclusively use their mobile phone to go online.
As good as the news is, the ban has not been lifted from all Chinese carriers.
Due to their categorization as "independent operators," the three Chinese airlines that don't qualify for this new policy are: China Eastern Yunnan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, and China United Airlines.
Images: KanfaNews.com
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