MAS expects to double digital sales this year (3786)

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS), which earned RM2 billion from digital sales
last year, expects to double that in the current year, driven by ticket
bookings made through mobile devices.

The airline's digital-based business include ticket bookings made via the website, which contributes a bulk of the sales.

MAS senior vice president for marketing and promotions (commercial)
Al-Ishsal Ishak said the tie-up with global online payment company
PayPal will help the company achieve its target to double the growth in
digital sales year-on-year.

"We expect bookings made online to
grow by more than 500 per cent this year. We are confident of achieving
the 100 per cent growth target," he said.

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According to the PayPal Mobile Shopping Insights 2011
study, the mobile commerce market in Malaysia is forecast to grow more
than seven times to RM3.43 billion in 2015.

For fiscal 2011, MAS recorded a revenue of RM13.9 billion and up to 15
per cent of the earnings were from its digital-based business.

In the current year, MAS expects digital-based business to contribute
20 to 30 per cent to group revenue, Al-Ishsal said at a briefing
yesterday.

MAS, which posted a RM2.52 billion loss last year,
has teamed up with PayPal to become the first airline in Southeast Asia
to offer faster and safer mobile payments on any Internet-connected
mobile device.

PayPal, a global e-commerce business, allows MAS
customers to make payments for tickets booked via the airline's
MHmobile and flymas.mobi mobile site for domestic and international
flights, in two minutes, instead of the average six minutes via the
website and using the credit card.

Al-Ishsal said the service
will be available in seven currencies over the next few months,
allowing customers to book from destinations like France, Japan, South
Korea and Germany.

MAS is offering all-in fares from as low as
RM150 for domestic travel and fares starting from RM340 for Asean
destinations, with bookings made from now until this Sunday.

Its Enrich loyalty programme is rewarding members 500 Enrich miles per
transaction made using PayPal on mobile devices up to October 5 2012.