China Eastern Airlines has become the launch customer in mainland China for Panasonic Avionics Corporation’s (PAC) Live Television service for inflight viewing. The service will be rolled out across the airline’s entire widebody fleet of Airbus A330s and A350s and Boeing B777 and B787 aircraft, initially providing passengers with live coverage from major local broadcasters, such as CCTV and CGTN.

Live Television is enabled by PAC’s third-generation (Gen-3) communications network of high speed, high-bandwidth Ku-band satellites. PAC says the network covers over 99% of all routes, and places capacity where it is most needed to meet demand. Cathay Pacific, the flag carrier of Hong Kong, was the first Chinese airline to offer live TV from Panasonic, which has been flying since 2016 on the airline’s A350 aircraft.

The most recent addition to the Gen-3 network is APSTAR 6D, PAC’s first extreme high throughput satellite (HTS), which has boosted satellite capacity over China through a series of teleports which have recently gone live in Beijing.

Ken Sain, CEO of Panasonic Avionics Corporation said, “China is a strategically important market for Panasonic Avionics, and we are delighted to welcome China Eastern as the first airline in this market to launch our Live Television service. Their passengers can now stay up to date with global news and sporting events inflight, taking advantage of the additional satellite capacity we have just invested in over China.”

The Live Television service offers live sports and news events and broadcasts 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, connecting passengers to over 16 hours of premium live content each day. Over 30 different global sports leagues, federations and unique events are planned to be shown in 2021, with recent highlights including the Olympics Games Tokyo and UEFA Euro tournament.