KUALA LUMPUR (July 28): Batik Air has signed a memorandum of understanding with YeePay to integrate the Chinese payment service provider's digital payment system into the airline’s ticketing system.

With this, Chinese passengers seeking to fly to Malaysia will be able to pay for their flight bookings using YeePay, one of China’s most widely used payment system in tourism, said Batik Air in a statement on Tuesday.

Batik Air, a subsidiary of Indonesia's Lion Air Group, operates several direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to more than 10 destinations across China. By integrating YeePay’s payment system, the airline hopes to increase the number of Chinese passengers coming into Malaysia.

“In the first half of 2025 alone, Malaysia welcomed more than 2.17 million visitors from China, representing a 35.6% year-on-year increase," said Batik Air CEO Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy in the statement.

"With Visit Malaysia 2026 on the horizon and stronger bilateral connectivity through the (China-Malaysia) mutual visa-free arrangement, we see tremendous opportunities to make travel even more accessible and seamless for Chinese travellers,” he added.

YeePay co-founder Yu Chen expressed hope that the MOU will be the first of more integrations with overseas airlines in Malaysia and across the Southeast Asian region.