TPG’s Nick Ellis experienced the strange policy firsthand when he flew in business class on Xiamen Air’s 787 from Seattle (SEA) to Shenzhen (SZX). When he started using his phone to listen to music, a flight attendant informed him of the policy and offered a velvet pouch to store his phone for the duration of the flight. He was lucky, though. In February, three passengers were detained by Beijing police after using their phones during flight. TPG flew in China Eastern's first class on its 777-300ER and didn't have any issue with his PED usage.
Other Chinese carriers must decide whether or not to allow personal electronic device usage in flight by the end of 2019. Presumably, it would be hard for a carrier that doesn’t allow phone usage to compete with one that does — at least as far as passenger experience is concerned. Until you know if the airline you're flying allows PED usage, we recommend bringing a laptop or tablet with downloaded content in order to ensure you’re entertained during your flight.
