Chinese airlines warn of third-party check-in app risks

Chinese developers of third-party smartphone apps that allow users to book and manage their flights recently encountered a setback as two leading airline companies issued warnings about the risks of using the apps to check in online, the China Business Journal reports.

"Third-party apps offering mobile phone check-in infringe the business interests of Air China as they use Air China's name, trademark and corporate identity without seeking the company's approval," the flag carrier said in a recent statement.

Air China also said users' check-in made with these apps might not be valid, and that the carrier would not be held liable if the private information of app users is leaked.

China Eastern Airlines published a similar statement on its website on Jan. 21, calling for these apps to stop offering the online check-in service.

The online check-in service is seen as a feature that helps airline companies differentiate themselves from online travel sites since it is exclusively available through the carriers' websites.

However, this changed when Beijing Aotian Huijin Science and Technology's Hang Ban Guan Jia app began offering online check-ins in September last year, which was followed by similar apps being provided by travel sites CTrip and Qunar.

"All carriers have their own official app and have continued to improve the platform. Carriers prefer passengers using the official app to book and check in flights but cannot match third-party apps in terms of user numbers," an aviation industry insider told the paper.

CTrip's app was downloaded 101.7 million times through the 360 app marketplace and was the most popular one, the paper said, followed by Hang Ban Guan Jia's 7.16 million. In comparison, the number of downloads of Air China's app was 180,000 times and China Eastern Airlines' was 60,000 times.

Aotian Huijin's marketing head Zhang Hongji said that the company is working closely with Air China and Shenzhen Airlines and is in talks with other carriers, including China Eastern, China Southern and Hainan Airlines on prospective collaboration.

The company added that a check-in through its app is made with the carriers' official websites and should be valid, while Qunar also promised the same.

Another industry insider said that carriers were hoping that the rise in mobile phone usage would help them reduce the dominance of third-party services, including travel websites, established on the PC end. But third-party apps pose a threat to carriers as they are also aspiring to become providers of travel services beyond flights.

Source: Want China Times