Flutterwave Partners with International Air Transport Association To Facilitate Flight Payments in sub-Saharan Africa

The Financial Gateway (IFG) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) now features payment technologies from fintech company Flutterwave. The International Flight Group (IFG) is a payment network designed exclusively for international airlines and travel firms to process payments from local markets through various distribution methods.

One such channel is Flutterwave, which enables Africans to pay for their airline tickets in their currencies via cards, bank transfers, mobile money, alternative payment options, and other Flutterwave payment methods.

Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, CEO & Founder of Flutterwave in a press release stated that the International Air Transport Association (IATA), sees potential in Africa to become one of the fastest growing aviation regions in the next 20 years with an annual expansion of nearly 5%.

How can we further accelerate this growth? One way is to ensure airlines can easily set up operations across the continent and seamlessly receive payments from their customers. This partnership with IATA solves the problem of payments for global airlines venturing into Africa. We hope that this encourages more global airlines to expand into Africa.

For perspective, the Nigerian government declared last year that it would sanction airlines that sell aircraft tickets in foreign currencies. This came after airlines in Nigeria opted to ban travel agencies and give customers tickets directly in dollars rather than the local currency.

Thanks to their partnership with Flutterwave, airlines now have total control over the entire payment and settlement process, from beginning to end.  With the help of this Flutterwave integration, the burden of postponing the repatriation of accumulated funds from plane tickets bought in local African currencies can be alleviated. This partnership with Flutterwave will greatly benefit foreign airlines and travel agencies looking to collect local currencies using cards and local payment methods. 

Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s Senior VP, Financial Settlement and Distribution Services, said, “The IATA Financial Gateway supports the availability of new payment options in many markets. We welcome Flutterwave’s participation to bring secure and innovative payment methods to airlines, travel resellers, and the traveling public in Africa.”