HAIKOU, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese airline began to allow mobile phone use on its flights Thursday.

On flight HU7781 of Hainan Airlines, passengers were allowed to use their portable electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablets, but phones had to be switched to airplane mode.

Hainan Airlines, one of China's largest commercial airlines, has enabled inflight Wi-Fi on 17 of its aircraft, allowing passengers to use chat, news and email apps among other online services.

China Eastern and Hainan Airlines announced Wednesday that their passengers can use portable electronic devices on flights from Jan. 18, after the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a guideline to lift the ban on Tuesday.

According to the guideline, cabin crew can ask passengers to turn off any devices that interfere with the flight.