GERMANY. Fraport has partnered with Kuffler & Bucher and Alipay to give Chinese travellers the option of ordering and paying for food and beverages by smartphone.
They can now use Chinese payment service provider Alipay’s smartphone app to view the menus of the restaurants operated by Kuffler & Bucher at Frankfurt Airport. The available food and drinks are presented with photographs and descriptions in Chinese, and can be ordered and paid for using the app.
Fraport said the service overcame potential language barriers that might be encountered when dealing with restaurant personnel.
The airport operator noted that ordering by smartphone was already commonplace and popular in China, and was now considered “an important prerequisite for a good overall culinary experience”.
Fraport Senior Executive Vice President of Retail & Properties Karl-Heinz Dietrich said the service was in line with the company’s digital strategy. “Ordering by smartphone ideally combines physical retail with our online offering, thus representing a genuine omnichannel product,” he explained. “We’re adding value for passengers while improving the quality of service at Frankfurt Airport in cooperation with our partners.”
The new service debuted at Deli Bros in February, a restaurant inside the airport’s transit zone.
Kuffler & Bucher General Manager Ralf Schweighardt commented: “We see ourselves as ideal hosts for passengers, and customers’ needs and wishes always come first for us. This new service is therefore an ideal opportunity for us to present our products in a way that’s consistent with their and our idea of customer friendliness.”
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The company also organises the annual Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference & Awards. FAB 2019 will be held in Dallas, hosted by Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on 26-27 June. HMSHost North America CEO Steve Johnson will be among the powerful line-up of speakers.
