China Eastern: free Wi-Fi for Australia, New Zealand flights

China Eastern will offer free Wi-Fi to all passengers on board its flights from Australia and New Zealand from next week.

Complimentary Wi-Fi is already available in the premium cabins of business and first class, but as of February 17 this will be extended to all travellers flying the airline between China and Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland.

Although Wi-Fi has been free on domestic twin-aisle jet flights within China since January 1, this marks the first time the SkyTeam member has extended the gratis service on international routes.

However, while business and first class flyers enjoy a high-speed Premium connection, economy passengers will have to make do with the more modest Standard connection, which the airline maintains is sufficient for "Internet browsing, online chatting and streaming media."

Across other international routes, China Eastern charges ¥150 (AU$22) to remain online for the whole flight at Standard speeds, and ¥258 (AU$38) for Premium.

Time-based packages are also available for one hour (at ¥40) and two hours (¥70).

China Eastern’s Australia network focuses on the airline’s hub at Shanghai, with additional flights from Sydney to Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan and Jinan, and Melbourne to Nanjing and Xi’an.

Australians are now able to visit China for up to 30 days without requiring a visa, with the same arrangement also in place for New Zealand passport holders.

The visa waiver for Australian travellers not only saves around $100 per person – the cost of a single-entry tourist visa – but removes the need to make an in-person visit to an authorised Chinese visa office in Australia at least two weeks before you travel.

Some 653,000 Australians visited mainland China between July 2024 and June 2025, up 25% over the previous year, making China the country’s fifth most popular overseas destination.