As of August 21st, 2018, Air Canada customers can use Alipay and WeChat Pay — two of China’s most popular mobile and online payments platforms — to book flights through the airline’s North American and Hong Kong websites. “With increasing numbers of customers purchasing tickets in North America and Hong Kong looking to use these alternate forms of payment, we are very pleased to expand Alipay and WeChat Pay options to aircanada.com bookings in Canada, the USA and Hong Kong,” said John MacLeod, vice president of global sales and alliances at Air Canada, in a August 21st press release. “This is another important element of our global expansion strategy as we increase our focus on providing our international customers with their preferred method of payment when purchasing outside China.” Air Canada said that it’s the first North American airline to offer support for Alipay and WeChat Pay. Both Chinese payment platforms have slowly started to proliferate across Canada. In March 2018, the CN Tower and Ripley’s Aquarium started to support the two platforms. One month earlier, Cadillac Fairview malls across Canada did the same. In other Air Canada news, a consortium led by the airline reached an agreement to reacquire the Aeroplan loyalty rewards program. Source: Air Canada
Air Canada started accepting China's Alipay and WeChat Pay online payment services for tickets bought through its North American and Hong Kong websites from 21 August. The airline claims to be the first in North America to accept the payment options. In a statement, an AirTran spokesperson said that it is "pleased with this new partnership as we continue our efforts to provide customers with more convenient ways of paying their tickets." The Chinese payment platforms were introduced at the CN Tower and Ripley's Aquarium in March 2018. Canada’s Cadillac Fairview malls also accept the online payment methods.