Air transportation and travel can be among the most benefited sectors by the blockchain revolution, and according to recent developments, it is taking the right steps to take full advantage of the world-changing technology.
As it turns out, it was a German airline named Hahn Air that made the latest move towards blockchain adoption. The company is currently claiming it is the first one to issue a ticket on a blockchain, according to a press release explaining the matter this week.
Hahn Air explained in the document that it is “the first airline that issued a real-world ticket enabled by blockchain technology on the open-source travel distribution platform Winding Tree.” It also stated that it is the first airline “to fly passengers holding blockchain-powered tickets on its scheduled flight from Dusseldorf to Luxemburg on November 18th, 2019.”
The First “Blockchain Passengers”
According to the report, the first “blockchain passengers” in the planet were Maksim Izmaylov, Founder of Winding Tree, Davide Montali, CIO of Winding Tree, and Frederick Nowotny, Head of Sales Engineering at Hahn Air.
Winding Tree is a widely known decentralized platform used in the travel sector, and through its participation, the sale of the ticket using blockchain technology was possible.
“We at Hahn Air are constantly exploring new technologies and we are proud to now demonstrate our technical capability to issue blockchain-powered Hahn Air tickets. We are pleased to be partnering with Winding Tree, the most established company when it comes to distributing travel inventory in the blockchain. Our goal is to investigate and monitor the opportunities this technology holds for travel distribution, even if widespread acceptance is still a vision of the future,” explained Nowotny.
Great Potential and Endless Applications
Maksim Izmaylov added that “while blockchain technology is currently almost exclusively associated with the cryptocurrency bitcoin it bears great potential for all industries and endless applications. It will have an enormous impact on all areas of economy and commerce over the next decades. We at Winding Tree believe that blockchain will have the power, like NDC, to fundamentally change the face of travel distribution. With a broad knowledge, an innovative mindset and an unparalleled network, Hahn Air is the ideal partner for us.”
The development is not the first one in which the blockchain technology and digital assets are involved with the travel sector. For example, earlier this month, a travel firm named Alternative Airlines established a strategic alliance with Utrust, a cryptocurrency resource to enable payments with digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, DigiBytem and UTK, which is Utrust’ native coin.
Blockchain and Biometrics for Security Checks at Airports
Last month, Zamna (a blockchain startup) managed to raise $5 million to automate airport security checks through the implementation of blockchain and biometrics technology. The firm now has heavyweight customers such as International Airlines Group, Emirates Airlines and United Arab Emirates’ General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs.
As an effort to promote tourism in the location, the state government of Queensland, an Australian province, issued a Grant to TravelbyBit, a crypto startup, as part of a funding process that exceeded $8.3 million. The company, while letting travelers to reserve their flights by paying in crypto, had the plan to increase the number of tourists in the area.
By Andres Chavez
