Malaysia Airports collaborates with Alipay for Chinese tourists

SEPANG: Malaysia Airports is teaming up with Alipay to offer cashless payment services to tourists from China.

Malaysia Airports recorded 4.9 million passenger traffic movements from China in 2016. From January to July 2017, the number had increased 22% to 3.3 million compared to the previous corresponding period. There are currently 470 flights per week connecting Malaysia and China.

"To date, 55.8% and 56.7% outlets at KLIA and klia2 Terminal respectively are transacting via Alipay. So far, we have seen a 25% increase in sales from overall Alipay transactions at both terminals. During the shopping campaign period, sales can increase further by 35% to 40%,” said Badlisham Ghazali, the managing director of Malaysia Airports.

He added that the adoption of Alipay is part of Malaysia Airports' move towards a highly digitised airport environment. With this cashless payment system, customers can pay for their transactions in Chinese yuan without having concerns about the exchange rate.

As part of its efforts to entice Chinese tourists, Malaysia Airports is holding a Spend & Win Campaign catering for Alipay users during the upcoming year-end holidays all the way until Chinese New Year. 

From mid-October 2017 to March 2018, Malaysia Airports will also introduce a Chinese Traveler Welcome Pack, which will include information about special promotions, transit and baggage facilities, local city tours, fast track KUL VIP Access and other things. It will be made available at the Chinese Helpdesk and Customer Experience Counters in the KLIA and KLIA2 terminals.