Emirates has launched a split-payment solution in Kenya with Cellulant, powered by Tingg. The feature lets customers combine mobile money, cards and bank payments to complete flight bookings, overcoming wallet limits. The innovation enhances payment flexibility in Kenya and is set to expand across other African markets.
Emirates26 February 2026
In a strategic push to make international travel more accessible in Africa, Emirates has launched an industry-first split-payment solution for customers in Kenya, leveraging its long-standing partnership with Africa’s fintech leader Cellulant. The capability, powered by Cellulant’s Tingg payment gateway, is now live on Emirates’ website and is expected to roll out to additional African markets in the months ahead.
The new payment option allows Kenyan travellers to combine multiple payment methods—or spread the cost of a ticket across instalments—when booking flights. By integrating mobile money, mobile banking and local debit or credit cards into a single booking flow, Emirates is addressing a key challenge in Africa’s mobile-first economy: the transaction and daily limits imposed by digital wallets that often prevent high-value purchases such as airline tickets.
Under the split-payment framework, customers make an initial payment online and can follow up with up to four additional instalments within a 24-hour window. This structure enables flyers to remain within provider-imposed limits while completing high-value transactions—a meaningful enhancement in markets where mobile money dominates the payment landscape.
“With hundreds of millions of Africans relying on mobile money as their preferred way to pay, extending this convenience to global travel payments is essential,” said Michael Muriuki, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Cellulant. “Through Tingg, we are enabling Emirates customers to complete high-value transactions seamlessly, without transaction limits becoming a barrier to access.”
Echoing this focus on customer experience, Christophe Leloup, Emirates’ Country Manager for Kenya, noted that Kenya “is one of the most dynamic markets on our global network, and we’re always looking for ways to enhance our customer experience across every touchpoint, including the booking process.” The new split-payment option, he added, “unlocks greater flexibility and convenience, while enabling more customers to access our world-class product and services.”
A Strategic Move For A Mobile-Dominant Market
Mobile money is deeply entrenched in Kenya’s financial ecosystem. With platforms like M-Pesa widely used for everyday transactions, the split-payment solution aligns seamlessly with local consumer behaviour, allowing customers to book long-haul flights with the same convenience they enjoy in routine payments. Around the continent, mobile money has amassed over 1 billion registered wallets and processes more than 80 billion transactions annually, yet traditional digital payment limits have historically constrained larger purchases.
By enabling a staged payment approach, Emirates and Cellulant together are tackling a structural barrier in the market, potentially broadening the airline’s addressable customer base among Kenya’s rapidly expanding middle class and mobile-first consumers.
Beyond Kenya: A Broader African Rollout
While the split-payment capability is currently live in Kenya, both Emirates and Cellulant indicate plans to expand the solution to other African markets. This comes as Emirates strengthens its presence in East Africa; a third daily flight on the popular Dubai–Nairobi route is due to launch from 1 March 2026, reflecting sustained demand and reinforcing the importance of locally tailored payment solutions to support growth.
Emirates already supports a range of payment and financing options across 14 markets in Africa—including South Africa, Ghana and Zimbabwe—through partnerships that integrate mobile money, banking and card services. The introduction of split payments complements these existing offerings and reinforces the airline’s strategic emphasis on financial inclusivity and customer-centric innovation.
Making International Travel More Attainable
In markets where traditional credit penetration is limited and mobile wallets prevail, flexible payment options are more than a convenience—they can determine whether a travel purchase is completed at all. By allowing travellers to structure payments around their financial preferences and constraints, Emirates is positioning itself not just as a global airline, but as a more accessible choice for a broader swath of African flyers.
The launch of this split-payment solution represents a notable example of how airlines and fintech firms can collaborate to unlock new demand by tailoring global products to local realities. As Emirates prepares to bring the capability to more markets across the continent, its approach may well become a blueprint for other carriers looking to adapt to Africa’s fast-evolving digital payments landscape.
Source: GLO / Emirates
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