With the right retail and payments experience, airlines can leverage deeper customer engagement and greater revenue potential. At Aviation Festival Asia, Puck Voorneveld, Senior Director Distribution and Payment Transformation at Lufthansa Group, looked at re-defining the end-to-end retail experience taking inspiration from digital-first industries.
Central to this transition is the shift from legacy technology to modern frameworks like New Distribution Capability (NDC) and collaborations with travel agencies, online booking engines, and industry bodies. Through these, airlines can create more consistent standards, improve product transparency, and delivery personalised offers that align with customer expectations across channels.
Looking at innovation in the payments space, the conversation also touched on the possibilities opened up by fintech, where Voorneveld added:
“I think the different fintech products, for example split payments or BNPL, on the one hand they are seen to increase average order value. So if you use them in the right way you can actually have passengers spend more which is super interesting as an airline as a retailing strategy. On the other hand split payments can have a totally different incentive for a customer […] normally split payments are used by a group so instead of one customer you sign up 10 people for your travel ID which can be another super interesting payment strategy.”
For an airline perspective on the ultimate end-to-end retail experience and more, watch the full interview below.
Questions asked include:
- How would you describe the ultimate end-to-end retail experience from an airline perspective, and what are the biggest obstacles to achieving this?
- When it comes to developing a modern distribution strategy where airlines can become comprehensive travel retailers, how can partnerships and technology create a more dynamic customer experience?
- How can innovation around payments begin to offer passengers the convenience they associate with other industries whilst ensuring security and scalability?
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For more onsite at Aviation Festival Asia 2025 see:
- How did AirAsia MOVE secure a 65 per cent ancillary attach rate?
- What is the purpose of an airline alliance?
- The vision behind Air India Express’ route expansion
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