Finnair to go online in China's e-commerce giant JD.com

Finnair jointly announced the establishment of a strategic partnership with China's e-commerce giant JD.com in Beijing on Thursday, becoming the first foreign airline on the online platform.

The cooperation shows Finnair's commitment to the Chinese market, as well as its dedication to offering more choices and better services to Chinese consumers, Finnair said.

"Finnair highly values China as a prominent aviation market with increasing numbers of passengers. We will jointly explore opportunities by combining air travel with e-commerce," said Juha Jarvinen, Finnair's CCO.

Finnair will become the first overseas airline to set up a flagship online store on JD Travel at the beginning of 2018, according to the Memorandum of Understanding between the airline and JD.com.

Customers will be able to book and pay for air tickets on the store. A membership and loyalty program will be launched between JD.com and Finnair Plus members, allowing points to be exchanged between two parties.

"JD.com has 260 million high-quality active users and a modern logistics system. We will join hands with Finnair to step forward into the global tourism market," said Frank Sun, general manager of JD.com's Life and Travel department.

Finnair became the first Western European airline to open a direct flight route to China when it began the Helsinki-Beijing direct flight in 1988.

To date, it has six routes to China. In June 2017, it extended Wi-Fi services to all routes to the country.