Alternative Airlines Partners with Atome

24/02/23 - Alternative Airlines, a global flight search and booking site, has announced its partnership with Atome, the leading ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) brand in the region, to bring flexible payment options to travellers based in Singapore and Malaysia, who are looking for the best flight fares. This partnership is expected to expand to other markets in Asia in the coming months. 

Customers can now search and book flights with any of the 600+ airlines that Alternative Airlines tickets and pay for their air tickets via Atome, for a flexible deferred payment schedule over three monthly interest-free instalments. 

Sam Argyle, Managing Director at Alternative Airlines stated: “We’re thrilled to announce our brand new partnership with Atome. Our mission at Alternative Airlines is to bring flexible ways to pay to customers all around the world, so being able to expand our payment options into Singapore and Malaysia is very exciting. Our customers will have a lot of flexibility when paying with Atome - being able to split the cost of your ticket into 3 monthly payments is very unique and innovative.”

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is the fastest growing payment method online and in-store from 2021 to 2025, according to 2022 Global Payments Report by Worldpay from FIS, and expected to grow at CAGR of 40%. In Asia-Pacific (APAC), Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore were found to have the highest BNPL penetration rates in 2021, which ranged from 4% for Malaysia and Singapore to 11% for Australia.

Sam continued: “There is an increasing demand for the ability to pay for flights in instalments. BNPL has been an incredibly popular choice of payment amongst our customers in North America, Europe and Australia, with increasing demand too from customers across Asia. Being able to book your flights now and spread the payments over time gives everybody the flexibility they need if they’re looking to book last-minute or unbudgeted flights.”

First launched in Singapore in late 2019, Atome has since become the leading BNPL brand in the region, with a presence across multiple markets and more than 15,000 merchants in its network. 

William Yang, Head of Commercial, Atome said: “It’s great to see that travel is gradually picking up and we are confident the sector will rebound to reach pre-pandemic levels soon. Interestingly, a recent study found that almost 50% of consumers cited that international travel will be a priority this year, much more than fashion, eating out and big-ticket items such as a new car. The fact that we are already seeing a huge increase in orders and transactions in this category, signals readiness and intent in consumers to spend on upcoming trips. Our partnership with Alternative Airlines further extends our suite of offerings to our consumers, who want to plan ahead with more flight options at their fingertips and choose Atome at check out, to better optimize their budget. We are excited to extend this partnership to more consumers in the region soon.”  

To use Atome to book flights, customers can visit alternativeairlines.com and search for flights with 600+ airlines including all major carriers that fly to and from Singapore and Malaysia. Airlines include Singapore Airlines, AirAsia, MYAirline, Scoot and many more. Customers can then select Atome at checkout to Buy Now, Pay Later*. 

*Terms and Conditions apply, visit atome.sg for more information.