RwandAir customers with Maestro, Discover, Diners and JCB credit and debit cards will now be able to pay for their airfare after the launch of the national carrier’s online ticketing platform, a move officials say will improve services and support the country push for a cashless economy.

Already, holders of SmartCash, VISA and MasterCard can pay online using their cards, which has helped improve the airline’s efficiency in terms of ticketing, according to Chance Ndagano, the acting chief executive officer of RwandAir. The airline’s Internet booking platform also allows payment by M-Pesa mobile money transfer service.

Ndagano said the online booking facility is part of RwandAir’s upgrade project that started earlier this year, which includes a partnership with Wirecard AG, one of Europe’s leading payment processing service providers.

"RwandAir continues to introduce some of the latest industry solutions to meet customer needs and ensure flexible, secure, varied and efficient online payment methods to better position the airline in the highly competitive industry,” Ndagano said in a statement released yesterday.

He added that more online and mobile-based payment facilities are in the pipeline "to offer to customers more innovative and convenient services”.

The airline is set to start flights to Brussels, Belgium, which will increase its destinations to 23. Brussels will be the national carrier’s second destination in Europe after it launched flights to Gatwick in London last month.

Last year, the airline acquired its first A330 series (A330-200 and A330-300 Airbus aircraft). It has also bought another brand new Boeing 737-800. The new planes are expected to help the airline serve new destinations in Europe and Asia, with experts saying RwandAir’s ambitious expansion strategy could help position it as a major aviation player in the next five years.

The IATA Operational Safety Audit certified airline carried more than 650,000 passengers last year and projects to transport over three million in the next five years.