Jeju Air: 2 out of 3 Customers Purchase Mobile Airline Tickets

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Jeju Air announced on the 31st that, according to an analysis of ticket purchase patterns last year, two out of three passengers purchased mobile tickets.

Based on 2020 sales data, Jeju Air analyzed the sales proportions by sales channels such as PC, mobile, on-site sales, and other sales, and found that sales through mobile payments accounted for 65.8%, which is 14.8 percentage points higher than the previous year.

On the other hand, the sales proportion using the traditional sales channel of PC decreased by 13.2 percentage points from 42.2% in 2019 to 29.0% in 2020. Payments made through direct airport sales or call centers also decreased by 1.8 percentage points to 5.2% compared to the previous year. Significant changes were also observed in the sales proportions by four payment methods: credit card, simple payment, account transfer (cash), and other payments (convenience store and point payments).

In 2020, credit cards accounted for the highest proportion of total sales at 67.4%, but this was 11.8 percentage points lower than 79.9% in 2019. Cash payment systems such as account transfers also decreased from 3.6% in 2019 to 2.2% in 2020. The sales proportion of other payment methods such as convenience store and point payments remained similar to the previous year.

Replacing credit card and cash payments was the simple payment service, whose sales proportion increased by 13.8 percentage points from 16.4% in 2019 to 30.2%, establishing itself as a major payment method for airline tickets.

This is interpreted as an increase in mobile-centered simple payments with high convenience, along with the rise of non-face-to-face payments due to the restraint on outdoor activities caused by the spread of COVID-19.

In line with the increase in the use of simple payment services, Jeju Air will conduct an immediate discount promotion from April 1 to April 18, offering discounts ranging from a minimum of 3,000 KRW to a maximum of 30,000 KRW depending on the purchase amount when paying with KakaoPay. For more details about the promotion, please refer to the website.

KakaoPay payment is a service that allows convenient payment through simple authentication using KakaoPay Money or registered credit/debit cards without complicated procedures such as joint certificates on KakaoTalk or the KakaoPay app.

Meanwhile, Jeju Air currently operates a total of seven services, including domestic services such as KakaoPay, Naver Pay, Samsung Pay, Toss, and overseas services such as PayPal, Mall Pay, and WeChat Pay.

A Jeju Air official said, “The use of mobile ticket purchasing methods and smart payment services utilizing simple payments is expected to increase further,” adding, “We will continue to expand customer convenience by researching various methods.”