Chinese travellers can now pay for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines tickets and ancillaries using WeChat or WeChat Pay via the airline’s website.

KLM is the first non-Chinese airline to accept payments using WeChat Pay, which currently has some 600 million users. WeChat Pay is a payment system integrated into China’s popular WeChat messaging and social media smartphone app.

“We believe we should be where our customers are,” said KLM president and CEO, Pieter Elbers. “In China we therefore have to be on WeChat. China has developed into an incredibly important market for KLM. By offering WeChat Pay, KLM has made it possible to book a ticket and pay for it via WeChat, subsequently receiving flight info and ask questions 24/7 all on the same platform.”

Travellers can pay via the service after booking a ticket on klm.com using the QR code that appears after the payment option has been selected. This code is then scanned, which brings users to WeChat Pay, where a bound bankcard can be set up to facilitate direct payments.

While this is the first time KLM is offering payment options using the platform, it has had a presence on the social media platform since 2014 in the form of an account, where commercial offers are offered. Passengers can also get KLM booking confirmations, check-in notifications, boarding passes and flight status updates using the app.

KLM currently flies to five cities in mainland China – Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Xiamen.

klm.com