LoungePair lands first mainland China airline tie-up

LoungePair has partnered with Fortune Wings Club to sell airport lounge access to members of the Chinese airline loyalty programme, marking its first airline loyalty partnership in mainland China.

Under the agreement, Fortune Wings Club members can buy lounge access through a dedicated LoungePair link and earn points on each purchase. A co-branded LoungePair platform has been embedded in the Fortune Wings Club website, allowing members to buy access to more than 1,400 lounges at more than 700 airports worldwide.

Fortune Wings Club is the shared frequent flyer programme for Hainan Airlines and a wider group of carriers under New HNA Aviation Group. They include Beijing Capital Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Lucky Air, West Air, GX Airlines, Fuzhou Airlines, Urumqi Air, Air Changan, Suparna Airlines, Grand China Air and Hong Kong Airlines.

Passengers buy lounge passes online and immediately receive a QR code and access code. Each purchase earns Fortune Wings points.

The partnership gives the New Zealand travel technology company a route into one of the world's largest aviation markets. It also advances LoungePair's push into Asia, where it has been building relationships with airlines, loyalty programmes and travel brands.

Over the past year, LoungePair has added partnerships with Vietnam Airlines, Etihad Airways and Entertainment Publications of Australia. The Fortune Wings Club arrangement adds a large mainland Chinese loyalty programme to that list.

China entry

LoungePair's model is aimed at travellers who want lounge access without flying in a premium cabin or holding elite loyalty status. It sells per-visit access rather than annual memberships, with entry arranged online instead of through traditional airline or credit card schemes.

For airline loyalty programmes, this offers a way to provide lounge access beyond their own airport networks. For lounges, it creates another sales channel for unused capacity. Travel agents can also use the platform to add lounge access as an extra product for customers.

In Fortune Wings Club's case, the tie-up connects that model with a loyalty base spread across several Chinese and regional airlines. Hainan Airlines said that in the first half of 2026, it and its controlled subsidiaries operated more than 1,400 domestic and international routes, including more than 1,200 domestic services across mainland China and nearly 200 international and regional routes.

That reach gives the programme a broad customer base for a lounge product that can be used beyond its own airline footprint. The lounge network available through LoungePair spans airports around the world rather than only those served directly by member airlines.

Daniel Kinnoch, Chief Executive Officer of LoungePair, said the partnership reflects changing expectations among travellers about the airport experience.

"The quality of a trip is no longer judged in the air alone. How you spend your time at the airport has become just as much a part of it," said Daniel Kinnoch, Chief Executive Officer of LoungePair.

He also pointed to the role lounge access now plays in airline loyalty schemes.

"Loyalty programmes compete on what their points can get you, and lounge access is one of the rewards members value most. LoungePair lets a programme offer it wherever its members fly. For us, this partnership is a firm foothold in China, one of the world's largest travel markets, and a base from which to extend our partner services across Asia. We are delighted to take this step with Fortune Wings Club and its millions of members," Kinnoch said.

Network growth

The deal underlines how travel companies are seeking ancillary revenue and customer retention beyond the flight itself. Lounge access has long been tied to business-class tickets, top-tier frequent flyer status or premium credit cards, but distribution platforms have widened the market by selling one-off entry directly to consumers.

For loyalty operators, offering paid lounge access with points earning adds another product without requiring direct investment in new facilities. For customers, it turns lounges into a transactional purchase rather than a status benefit alone.

LoungePair's network covers more than 1,400 lounges worldwide. By plugging that inventory into airline and partner websites, it is seeking to position itself between lounges looking to fill seats and travel brands looking to offer additional products to customers.

The Fortune Wings Club tie-up is notable because it places that model within a major Chinese airline loyalty ecosystem at a time when travel distribution partnerships in Asia remain strategically important for foreign travel technology firms. For LoungePair, the arrangement provides exposure to millions of members through a programme linked to airlines serving domestic Chinese routes as well as international markets across Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and Africa.

Hainan Airlines has also remained one of the most prominent airline brands in mainland China, with recognition from Skytrax as a Five-Star Airline for 15 consecutive years since 2011, according to the airline.