(Yicai) March 2 -- More than 10 Chinese and international carriers have joined the new ticketing service of Qwen, the artificial intelligence assistant of tech giant Alibaba Group Holding, which launched just before the Lunar New Year holiday and allows users to search for flights best matching their individual needs.

Qwen and Fliggy, the online travel platform of Hangzhou-based Alibaba, have teamed up with China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Emirates, United Airlines, and others since the AI ticketing service was launched on Feb. 11, an insider from the civil aviation industry told Yicai.

After searching for "Shanghai to Beijing, with in-flight Wi-Fi" on Qwen, the tool immediately provided multiple results from two airlines, including the time, price, and other features for each flight, Yicai found. Once a suitable option was selected, the ticket was purchased through Fliggy.

The airlines, which have historically been slow to adopt new technologies, quickly allied with Qwen to seize the potential super traffic entry point provided by AI assistance, several management representatives said to Yicai. They also aim to leverage ticket subsidies offered by large language model developers to attract more clients, particularly young customers, the managers added.

Airlines are no longer satisfied with traditional customer acquisition channels and are anticipating a shift in future consumer booking habits and evolving demands, the representatives noted.

Qwen recommends multiple optimal travel options based on user requests and compares the pros and cons of each plan, even providing suggestions and tips to avoid potential pitfalls. To encourage the use of the new features, the tool is offering users discounts ranging from CNY20 to CNY300 (USD2.92 to USD43.74) per ticket.

During the nine-day Chinese New Year break, which ended Feb. 23, the number of AI-generated flight ticket orders from Fliggy surged 540 percent compared to the nine days before that, with the average ticket price exceeding CNY700, an airline representative told Yicai. Daily orders from Qwen users continued to come in even after the holiday ended, the person pointed out.

Collaborating with LLM companies on AI provides carriers with a low-cost opportunity for customer acquisition while also allowing them to accelerate new product development and service delivery through the AI ecosystem, Qi Qi, associate professor of Guangzhou Civil Aviation College, told Yicai. This helps meet the diverse demands of consumers with more personalized experiences, Qi added.

"Over the past 60 years, the global flight ticket sales model has undergone multiple transformations, with the emergence and widespread application of AI expected to usher the civil aviation industry into a new era of 'AI + sales,'" Qi noted.

AI ticket booking is in the early stages of cultivating user habits, and large-scale application still depends on the continuous iteration and optimization of LLM platforms, Qi stressed, adding that this will enable AI to better understand the unique preferences of each customer and assist airlines in developing more diverse products that meet varying demands.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev