A customer prepares to pay with WeChat in Shenzhen, China, May 25, 2017. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)
WeChat Pay is expected to help double online ticket sales volume of Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia's national air carrier.
ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's national air carrier, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) expects to double online ticket sales volume with launch of mobile application pay system WeChat Pay, an Ethiopian official said on Monday.
Speaking exclusively to Xinhua, Surafel Worku, Digital Marketing and Sales Manager at ET, said the payment system was launched on the China-based popular mobile messaging application WeChat on Friday, with already encouraging signs the new platform can help Ethiopia boost its online ticket sales volume from the current 10 percent to around 20 percent in a short period of time.
The WeChat Pay system will be available in nine languages, these being Chinese, English, Dutch, French, Spanish, Arabic, German, Portuguese and Ethiopia's official working language Amharic.
"The WeChat Pay system will work for passengers originating from ET's five Chinese destinations and travelling to ET's 120 flight destinations global network," said Worku.
Ethiopian Airlines currently flies to the Chinese cities of Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou.
Recently, ET announced plans to substantially expand its 35 times a week flights services to Chinese destinations.
Speaking to Xinhua, Asrat Begashaw, head of public relations at Ethiopian Airlines, said flight frequencies to Guangzhou and Chengdu will increase from 10 flights per week and four flights per week to 14 flights per week and 10 flights per week respectively.
He further said Ethiopian Airlines plans to double flight frequencies to China's capital Beijing from the current seven times a week to 14 times per week, during the current Ethiopian Fiscal Year 2019/2020, which started on July 8.
Ethiopian Airlines was the first African carrier to offer flight services to China back in 1973.
