Rahel Assefa, Group VP Marketing Ethiopian Airlines and Yared Endale, Cluster Head – Eastern Africa, Visa
Visa has announced a new agreement with Ethiopian Airlines to expand the rollout and adoption of co-branded payment products, in a move aimed at strengthening travel payments and enhancing customer experience.
The agreement builds on a long-standing collaboration between the two organisations and comes at a time when digital payments are increasingly shaping how travellers book, pay, and interact with airline services. The focus is not only on convenience, but also on creating a more seamless and integrated travel experience.
Through the joint effort, Visa and Ethiopian Airlines will work together to drive greater adoption and usage of co-branded Visa cards, offering customers more seamless, secure and rewarding ways to pay for travel and everyday purchases.
The collaboration will also focus on strengthening customer engagement, promoting digital payments and supporting Ethiopian Airlines’ expanding footprint.
“Travel and payments are intrinsically linked, and this collaboration reflects our shared commitment to simplifying how customers pay and travel,” said Yared Endale, Cluster Head Eastern Africa at Visa. “By deepening our relationship with Ethiopian Airlines, we are supporting the evolution of digital payments while helping deliver more value, convenience and choice to travelers across the region.”
Beyond payments, the collaboration will extend into joint marketing initiatives and innovation efforts designed to improve the end-to-end travel journey from booking and payments to loyalty and ongoing customer engagement. Visa’s global network and technology infrastructure will play a key role in enabling secure, reliable transactions across borders, supporting both domestic and international travel.
Ethiopian Airlines is also positioning the partnership as a way to strengthen its customer offering.
“At Ethiopian, we continuously strive to provide our passengers with a seamless range of options to access and enjoy our services. Our collaboration with Visa aims to further enhance payment options for our customers and increase convenience during every payment,” said Rahel Assefa, Ethiopian Airlines Group Marketing Vice President.
Ethiopian Airlines operates an extensive network connecting the continent to major global destinations. The renewed collaboration with Visa signals a shared ambition to support the growth of Africa’s aviation sector while accelerating the adoption of digital payments.
The agreement also forms part of Visa’s broader strategy to partner with airlines, merchants, and financial institutions to enable secure, innovative, and inclusive payment solutions that support commerce and cross-border travel across Africa.
