GOL launches new payments option

GOL Linhas, Brazil's version of Southwest Airlines, has begun offering its customers an entirely different way of paying for their airfares.

The new option allows customers to pay their airfares in up to 36 monthly installments, not far from the same system people use to pay off loans and mortgages.

Brazil's population has a substantially lower average income than in the U.S., which could make this payment method extremely popular. It could even spread over to the U.S. discount airline industry.

GOL's vice president Tarcisio Gargioni said: "As an innovative low-cost airline, we are always stimulating the market and looking for new ways to allow all Brazilians to benefit from the convenience of air transportation."

Customer's wanting to pay by installments must fill out an application that will be approved or rejected by the airline. Should the application be approved, customers will be given a GOL Fly Easy Card that enables them to pay in installments.

In just four years GOL has become one of the most popular airlines in Brazil and South America.

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