Alipay, Shareco, and Hainan Airlines jointly announced that Hainan Airlines will formally launch inflight mobile payment services on its first batch of 15 planes which will allow travelers to pay for goods and class upgrades.
By the end of 2017, the services will be deployed to cover 129 planes.
When taking Hainan Airlines' Internet-enabled airliners, passengers can access Wi-Fi provided by Shareco, the online platform operating company under Hainan Airlines, to browse Shareco's aerial shopping mall, purchase discounted products, and complete payments with Alipay.
According to Pan Yunbin, chief executive officer of Shareco, the aerial mobile payment will be rolled-out along with the modification of Internet-enabled airliners. By the end of 2017, Internet airliner modifications are expected to reach 129 planes, covering Hainan Airlines, Capital Airlines, and Yangtze River Airlines. Those planes will transport about 600,000 passengers every week.