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Air Uganda in conjunction with the leading Mobile Money service provider MTN today introduced a new, fast and convenient mobile money payment option on its billing platform.
The new payment option enables customers to pay for their air tickets using their MTN mobile phones. The move comes as part of Air Uganda’s desire to empower more people to fly by offering better services and easy access to these services. The airline aims at making air travel affordable and accessible to all and hence the introduction of this mobile money payment platform.
The mobile money payment platform is a new addition to other payment platforms provided by Air Uganda to facilitate customers pay for air tickets faster and easier.
Speaking at the unveiling of the mobile Money payment platform the Air Uganda CEO Mr. Cornwell Muleya said: ‘Using MTN Mobile Money, our customers can now pay for air tickets and fly! At Air Uganda we want to empower our customers, so we introducing innovative products and technologies to ease the travel experience for the customer. This mobile money platform is easy to use, convenient, reliable and fast. It will save our customers a lot time, since they can now buy tickets from wherever they are.”
Ease of access to Air Uganda’s products and services by customers is part of the Airline’s strategy. The Mobile money payment platform is a great achievement in this direction. Customers will be able to pay for their tickets without having to physically visit the airline’s sales outlets. The new service is set to revolutionize how Ugandans purchase their air tickets. This service is available to all MTN Mobile money users across the country.
Addressing journalists at the unveiling ceremony MTN Chief Marketing Officer Ernst Fonternel welcomed the partnership with Air Uganda adding that they are a new addition to a number of other stakeholders who have partnered with MTN Mobile Money to deliver convenience to over 8 million customers on the MTN network.
Fonternel said since the launch of the service five years back, MTN Mobile Money has enjoyed unprecedented success, registering in excess of 28million transactions each month with more than 4.7 million customers active on Mobile Money.
“As per the GSMA 2012 Global Mobile Money adoption survey, MTN Uganda ranks 2nd in the world in the of number of active Mobile Money customer accounts. Today, as we launch this partnership with Air Uganda, I’m hopeful that the Airline’s customers will find MTN Mobile Money an easy, convenient, safe and secure service,” Mr. Fonternel said.
From all indications, the new payment option is not only intended to bring increased operational efficiency and cost effectiveness for the airline, but also greater convenience for the travelling public.
Introducing the platform is a further assurance for consumers that Air Uganda is always one step ahead in ensuring reliability and convenience when serving customers. In recent months the airline has grown its network, introduced new and improved products and improved service standards to match the challenges and growth of the regional aviation industry. Air Uganda remains committed to its goals, which are based on high safety standards, efficacy and reliability. With the introduction of this payment option, Air Uganda has taken another giant stride towards consolidating its position as a leading Ugandan and regional carrier.
About Air Uganda
Air Uganda was founded in 2007 and operates scheduled flights from its Entebbe hub throughout East Africa. The destinations served include Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, Juba, Kigali, Kilimanjaro, Mombasa, and Nairobi. The airline recently launched direct flights from Entebbe to Mogadishu on July 8, 2013. Air Uganda operates a homogeneous fleet of 50 seater CRJ 200 aircraft.
Air Uganda is the home based carrier for Uganda and is a member of the Celestair Group, which is owned by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). AKFED is an international development agency dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship and building economically sound enterprises in the developing world. AKFED focuses on building enterprises in parts of the world that lack sufficient foreign direct investment.
AKFED is in turn part of the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of development agencies with mandates that include the environment, health, education, architecture, culture, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, the promotion of private-sector enterprise and the revitalization of historic
About MTN Uganda
Launched in 1998, MTN Uganda is the leading communications operator in Uganda, offering Mobile and Fixed telecommunications, Mobile Money Services and Internet Service Provisioning. As of 30 June 2013, MTN Uganda recorded 8 million subscribers across Uganda. Visit us at www.mtn.co.ug and for our football fans www.mtnfootball.com . Customers can also follow us on www.youtube.com/mtnug and www.twitter.com/mtnugandacare for assistance.
About the MTN Group
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN”. As of 30 June 2013, MTN recorded 201.5 million subscribers across 22 countries. Visit us at www.mtn.com .
