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Aeroflot Group’s international traffic increased 27.2% from January-July. During the seven-month period, the group carried 28.3m passengers, up 17.3% year-over-year. International traffic increased 27.2% to 12.7m for the period, while domestic traffic grew 10.3% YOY to 15.6m. From January-July, load factor reached 82.3%, up 1.7 points YOY and capacity grew 24.2%. For July, international traffic grew 29.8% to 2.4m. Total group traffic reached 5.3m, up 20.3% year-over-year (YOY). Group load factor grew 0.7 point YOY to 90.9% for the month. <br/>

Dutch airline KLM has begun allowing Chinese passengers to use WeChat Pay to buy airfare. It starting doing so Monday, without advertising the new functionality, or sending a press release. And yet, in the last few days, the airline estimated 20 to 30% of its Chinese customers used WeChat Pay for their airfare, preferring a payment platform embedded into China’s top social media site over more traditional options. Chinese consumers use WeChat Pay for many types of purchases, so they didn’t need to be told about KLM’s new functionality. They saw it was there, and used it. “They know how to do that because it’s part of their lives,” said Karlijn Vogel-Meijer, who directs KLM’s social media strategy. “The way the Chinese do business, and the way the Chinese use online and social tools is something we can learn a lot from.” KLM, which announced Thursday it is accepting WeChat Pay, is hoping it may spur demand for flights from Shanghai and Beijing to Amsterdam. It’s probably a good bet, considering almost 1b people use WeChat’s messaging tool each month, and roughly 600m have enabled the payment function, allowing them to buy goods, including airfare, through WeChat. “If you look at WeChat in general, you see a platform that is completely integrated in the lives of Chinese people,” Vogel-Meijer said. “It was very logical for us as an airline to allow customers to pay their most preferred way.”<br/>