Finnair to trial China's Alipay for in-flight shopping

Finnair will become the first airline to allow travellers to pay for in-flight shopping and services with Chinese online payment app Alipay, the company said Wednesday. The airline said it will trial Alipay on its flights between Shanghai and Helsinki. "As the number of travellers grows between Asia and Northern Europe, the need for a familiar and convenient payment platform has never been greater," Finnair chief digital officer Katri Harra-Salonen said. Alipay has formed a number of foreign partnerships in its push to capture the growing market of Chinese consumers traveling abroad. The service has more than 450m active users in China. Though other airlines, such as Delta, accept Alipay on their booking websites, Finnair says it will be the first to allow passengers to use the payment app during flights. <br/>