US Airways Taps Paypal for Airfare Purchases

American airline US Airways said Tuesday that it will begin to accept PayPal as a form of payment when purchasing tickets through its Web site.

The company said that the the ability to purchase airfare using the online payment service was a popular request among its customers. In addition, the company will also promote PayPal through the "travel tools" section of its Web site.

Paypal bills itself as one of the safest methods to make purchases online, and currently counts about 153 million accounts worldwide. The company had signed a deal with airline Northwest which also allowed customers to use PayPal as a payment method there as well.

"Adding US Airways as a PayPal merchant is an exciting step forward for us and for our customers," PayPal merchant services chief Stephanie Tilenius said.