Six per cent of consumers have used mobile payments to purchase a flight in the last 12 months, according to research from WorldPay – but 50 per cent would purchase airline tickets on their mobiles now if they could. And 62 per cent expect this to be an option available to them in the future.

Those are just some of the findings of the Perfect Passenger Payment report, based on a study of over 50 airline merchants, and 4,500 global consumers who have purchased an airline ticket online in the last year.

The research also found that 56 per cent of consumers already travel with a smartphone or Tablet, and 61 per cent want to be able to use their device to check in.

“Consumers are increasingly embracing smartphones and tablets to purchase goods and services online, and this report shows that there is a demand for among customers to be able to purchase airline tickets using mobile technology,” says WorldPay chief product officer Phil McGriskin. “Currently only a small percentage of airlines offer mobile payments to their customers but a high percentage of customers, particularly frequent flyers, would like the option to be made available. As more airlines embrace mobile technology for other parts of the airport-to-flight experience, we expect this to be extended to the payment process.”

Chinese fliers proved to be the most advanced in using mobile payments, with 34 per cent having bought flights with their mobile in the last 12 months.

The full report can be download here.