fastjet has launched a mobile payment solution with Tanzania’s leading telecommunications company Vodacom, thus enabling fastjet customers to buy airline tickets using their mobile phones.

M-PESA - which takes its name from the M for mobile and Pesa, which is Swahili for money - provides the cash economies of East Africa with the ability to deposit or withdraw cash, send money, buy prepaid airtime, pay utility bills and now purchase fastjet tickets.

This new partnership means that today more than 9 million subscribers to M-PESA Tanzania are able to book and pay for fastjet tickets with their mobile phones and will receive booking and payment confirmations by SMS.

Credit and debit card payments are expected to be introduced next month, providing a further easy payment option for international passengers.

Domestic flights in Tanzania from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza and Kilimanjaro commenced on 29th November 2012 and have seen strong demand.

Building on this success, fastjet expects to announce regional routes to Entebbe in Uganda, Johannesburg in South Africa and Moroni in the Comoros Islands in the next few weeks.