China can now fly with Alipay

UATP, a US based payment network that is linked to the majority of the world’s airline companies has come to a partnership with AliPay, subsidiary of Chinese ecommerce titan, Alibaba.

The addition of Alipay to the UATP, will allow for the payment of flight and travel plans to Alipay’s 800 million users.

Throughout 2012, China has had 83 million outbound trips and flights. In addition, China’s tourists have become the world’s biggest spenders, with 102 billion spent throughout last year.

UATP is a payment card alternative for corporate travel, and is accepted by just under 260 Airlines. UATP is used in thousands of travel agencies, and is accepted in 105 different countries. The addition of Alipay and their immense user base shows how strong the Chinese tourism market is.

We just mentioned Alipay recently, when they entered the funds market this past week, and we are sure that we will be hearing a lot more of them when they enter new fields and markets in the near future.