Flyers the world over may have been spooked by recent crashes involving new-age jets, but they would do well to realize that a wave of digitalization is set to transform civil aviation, industry experts said.

While this is a global trend, nowhere is it more pronounced than in China. From online ticket bookings, electronic seat selection, self check-in and e-boarding pass, to self-service baggage checks, intelligent passageways, tech-enabled conveniences like biometric identification at airport security, and in-flight Wi-Fi internet access, China offers them all.

The net impact of this adoption of high-tech is that passengers have enhanced flyer experiences, flights are relatively safer, airline revenues are set to increase, and equipment and content suppliers expect to grow their business, industry insiders said.

Given Chinese people’s need for 24/7 internet access, in-flight Wi-Fi has become popular among flyers－92 percent of respondents in a survey of airline customers said they consider in-flight Wi-Fi necessary, according to CAPSE, a third-party civil aviation data service provider in the country.

As if in response, many domestic airlines have begun to offer in-flight Wi-Fi services. Other airlines are about to install the latest Wi-Fi that relies on Ku band, delivering superfast broadband.

About 300 aircraft of China’s airlines, or less than 10 percent of their total fleet, are equipped with Wi-Fi, a contrast to about 70 percent in the United States and 50 percent in Europe, but indicating enormous growth potential.

For instance, Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines, which has a fleet of more than 130 aircraft, is the leader of the Asian pack that offer in-flight Wi-Fi.

All of its aircraft that connect China and North America, and 90 percent of its long-haul international flights, offer Wi-Fi now.

Domestically, in-flight Wi-Fi is available on 180 major routes of China Eastern, including most of its flights between Beijing and Shanghai.

Some domestic airlines have begun to offer free and unlimited Wi-Fi usage for passengers, mostly on their wide-body aircraft, and they have a limited number of connections for their economy-class passengers. Those who would like to use in-flight Wi-Fi may apply online beforehand. If there are still vacancies available after takeoff, passengers can register during the flights.

Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, the largest airline by fleet size in Asia and the third biggest worldwide, said first-and business-class passengers don’t need to apply beforehand, and they will be able to use complimentary Wi-Fi services.

Industry reports said it costs about 7 million yuan ($1.04 million) to 8 million yuan to equip an aircraft with Wi-Fi services, and it takes about two to three days for the installation.

“The Chinese civil aviation market will continue to grow remarkably. Starting last year, domestic passengers were allowed to use portable electronic devices during flights (after the regulator－the Civil Aviation Administration of China－eased certain restrictions in January 2018),” said Zhang Chi, deputy general manager of China Eastern’s e-commerce unit.

Globally, many airlines now offer in-flight Wi-Fi services, covering 39 percent of available seat miles or ASM. The United States offers the widest Wi-Fi penetration－71 percent of its airlines’ seat capacity is covered.

Among non-US airlines, only 13 percent of seat capacity has Wi-Fi access, according to New York-based Routehappy Inc, an air travel information platform.

“The next three years would be a period of infrastructure-building for domestic in-flight Wi-Fi coverage. The operational costs are also expected to be lowered, with the maturing of technologies and the introduction of more related policies,” Zhang said.

“The rapidly growing number of internet users and the data that each consumer uses daily, as well as the dropping costs of data, will be a catalyst for the fast development of the mobile internet market.”

By 2035, connected aircraft will become universal, and the global market is forecast to be worth $130 billion, which will benefit airlines, hardware manufacturers, content providers, retailers and advertisers, according to a research report by Inmarsat and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“Air travel has never been such a good deal for consumers. Not only are fares staying low, the options for travelers are expanding. Some 1,300 new direct links between cities were opened in 2018, and 250 million more journeys by air occurred in 2018 than in 2017,” said Alexandre de Juniac, director-general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association.

In addition to wider internet coverage during flights, other aspects of air travel, starting from check-in to boarding, are getting digitalized in China.

In January, China Southern started online seat selection for all domestic flights and paperless e-boarding passes, lending a green touch to travel.

In late January, its first week of digitalized operations saw around 75 percent of domestic passengers selecting their seats via digital devices. Last year, the carrier transported 139 million passengers.

“The global aviation industry is at a crucial development stage. It is shifting from an increment-driven market to one in which greater value and opportunities are extracted from the existing market. Digitalization presents a significant opportunity for the China market,” said Yu Zhanfu, partner and vice-president of the China practice at Roland Berger consultancy.

From February, Shanghai Pudong International Airport upgraded its free Wi-Fi services on its premises. Passengers can use airport Wi-Fi for free for three months from the date of authenticating their registration on the network. The airport’s internet access is 20 times faster than before, and stable, according to the Shanghai Airport Authority.

Passengers can download large files like entertainment content quickly. Some 50,000 connections can be used at the same time on their premises, airport officials said.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, one of the major international travel hubs in China, has been transforming itself into a smart facility.

By the end of last year, Baiyun airport had 234 self-operated check-in machines. Nearly 70 percent of the passengers opted to use them, airport officials said.

Besides, Terminal 2 of the Baiyun airport had 55 self-service baggage checking machines, the highest for any domestic airport. This has helped shorten the waiting time for passengers and boosted operational efficiency, they said.

Also, Baiyun airport has become the first domestic airport to start self-service boarding. As of December, it had 45 self-service boarding gates, and passengers can pass through these using the facial recognition technology.

That’s not all. Baiyun airport had 75 self-service passageways at the border exit and entry areas. In the last two years, the number of travelers who used self-service customs clearance surged more than 60 percent annually, airport officials said.

The airport said in a statement it plans to further improve paperless operations, and the self-help services that can cover the whole process. It will also strengthen the application of technologies like biometric recognition, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence for a smarter ecologic system, to cover all airport services.