China’s airlines upgrade digital systems to match customer expectations

April 1st 2023

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With air passenger traffic continuing its rapid rebound across the region, Mainland carriers are increasing investment in technology to match expectations of their customers. Read More »

Quarterly figures recorded by digital retail provider, Datalex, show digital transactions were 43% of 2019 figures in March, only three months after China’s re-opening to international visitors.

Market indications point to a steady recovery in monthly transaction volumes, Datalex said, with a month-on-month increase in transaction volumes of 26% compared with February this year.

On February 25, 2023, the peak 24 hours for airline travel in the Lunar New Year Holiday, 1.013 million travellers entered and left China, exceeding a million travellers in a single day for the first time since 2020. Within days of that week three years ago, China joined the world in shutting its border as COVID spread its tentacles across the world.

A 10,000 person survey conducted by Datalex in the first quarter of 2023 identified a “digital disparity” between the expectations of travellers and the airlines on which they flew.

In the Asia-Pacific, 33% of end travellers into Singapore believe airlines are lagging behind e-commerce companies such as Amazon in their online digital shopping options. In Australia, 39% of survey respondents felt the same way.

However, 24% of airline executives globally believe the digital shopping options offered by their airlines were ahead of their on-the-ground e-commerce competitors.

This perception gap highlights the post-pandemic digital expectations passengers seek and the necessity for airlines to modernize their online retail offerings, the survey’s analysts believe.