On April 21, around 12:30 PM, the TravelSky APP experienced a widespread service outage, leaving numerous users unable to check travel itineraries, access gate information, or retrieve electronic boarding passes. As of 9:40 PM the same day, more than nine hours after the initial failure, the system services had still not returned to normal.
In a notable contrast, some users reported on social media platforms that the app's 'loan' service continued to function normally.
The core service disruption lasted over nine hours, significantly inconveniencing travelers. Starting from 12:30 PM on April 21, the topic "TravelSky is down" trended online. Users opening the app were met with a message stating, "Service is temporarily unavailable, please try again later." The 'Itinerary' section showed no flights under "Upcoming" or "Completed" trips. Attempts to check flight statuses resulted in an error message: "Sorry, no eligible flight dynamics were found for you." Users also faced issues when trying to log back in, encountering problems like being unable to receive verification codes, reaching SMS sending limits, and inconsistencies in ID verification. Even paying Plus members found their screens blank.
At 3:06 PM that day, TravelSky's official Weibo account issued a statement acknowledging the partial functional abnormalities. It advised travelers to temporarily check their itineraries and complete check-in procedures through airlines or airport counters, adding that the "technical team is working at full capacity to fix the issue." Customer service had initially suggested that users could "try checking if the APP has been restored around 6:00 PM."
However, by 9:40 PM on April 21, testing revealed that core functions such as itinerary management, flight status, and ticket purchasing remained inoperative, over three hours past the promised restoration time. This was not the first time TravelSky had experienced issues. On the afternoon of November 29, 2024, the app erroneously sent "flight canceled" notifications to a large number of users, leading to unintended ticket refunds, changes, and resulting financial losses from fare differences and cancellation fees.
While the primary travel services were fully impaired, the loan feature remained accessible. As many travelers took to social media to voice their frustrations, observant users noted that although services like itinerary checking, check-in, flight booking, and status updates were completely down, the 'loan' entry point, hidden within the "My - TravelSky Wallet" section, was surprisingly stable. One user shared a screenshot with the caption: "Loans are working fine." The provided image clearly displayed loan advertisements highlighting "Maximum loan amount: 300,000" and "Annual interest rate as low as 3%."
The loan service within the TravelSky app operates on a pure lead-generation model, not direct lending. The app is operated by TravelSky Mobile Technology Co., Ltd., whose largest shareholder is China TravelSky Holding Company. TravelSky's major shareholders include Air China Limited, China Southern Airlines Company Limited, and China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited. However, TravelSky Mobile does not hold core financial licenses such as consumer finance or third-party payment licenses, meaning the platform itself lacks the qualifications to issue loans.
In terms of business form, TravelSky leverages its user base of over 150 million people, covering approximately 73% of civil aviation passengers, to embed the loan entry within its "TravelSky Wallet" section. It directs traffic to several licensed financial institutions, earning fees for this lead-generation service. Publicly visible partners include Nanjin Faba Consumer Finance, Baixin Bank, Bank of Ningbo, and Du Xiaoman Financial.
It is reported that TravelSky quietly launched this loan business in the second half of 2025. Beyond loan referrals, its financial offerings also include aviation accident insurance, flight delay insurance, and a co-branded credit card in partnership with China Minsheng Bank.
However, this path of monetizing traffic soon attracted regulatory scrutiny. On February 13, 2026, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, jointly with the State Administration for Market Regulation and the People's Bank of China, held talks with six travel platforms: Ctrip, Amap, TONGCHENGTRAVEL, Fliggy, TravelSky, and Qunar. The regulators demanded that these platforms standardize their marketing practices when cooperating with financial institutions on lending businesses, avoid misleading promotional language, clearly disclose the names of lending institutions and credit product information, explicitly prompt borrowers to borrow rationally, and ensure smooth complaint channels.
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