Kenya Airways has become one of the first airlines in Africa to launch a mobile phone system aimed at providing passengers with up-to-date information about their flights.

The system called ‘KQ Mobile’ can be accessed using an SMS or USSD short code by Kenya Airways passengers to help them obtain instant information on their phones about flight statuses, timetables, cargo services, ticketing and queries.

‘KQ Mobile’ works on roaming across any of the 56 destinations that Kenya Airways flies to.

“Our ultimate goal is to leverage the convenience element presented by a mobile phone to deliver a range of services and information to our customers, staff and stakeholders,” said Kenya Airways chief executive Titus Naikuni.

The airline has teamed up with IT firm Cellulant to develop the system.

“The goal of the partnership is to leverage the mobile phone to provide various information services to KQ customers, staff and other stakeholders in order to improve communication, enable itinerary and disruption management, payments and, importantly, to provide passengers the opportunity to customise their travel experience with ease,” said Cellulant’s chief business officer Paul Ndichu.

KQ Mobile is the latest big deal for Cellulant, which is one of the leading mobile technology firms in Africa, having now built mobile-based systems across numerous industry segments.

The company has also won a Sh745 million contract with the Nigerian Ministry of Agriculture to launch an e-mobile registration service for subsidised fertiliser.