Hahn Air says it is the first airline that issued a real-world ticket enabled by blockchain technology on the open-source travel distribution platform Winding Tree.
The airline has also said it is the first to fly passengers holding blockchain-powered tickets on its scheduled flight from Dusseldorf to Luxemborg on 18 November.
“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,” said commented Frederick Nowotny, Head of Sales Engineering at Hahn Air. “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.”
The company suggests the benefits of booking tickets with blockchain technology include the fact it is open-source, meaning all market participants (such as airlines, travel companies and distribution systems) can easily connect and exchange transactions and all market participants can interact with each other and perform transactions without intermediaries – reducing costs.
Finally, Hahn Air suggested it is 100% secure as all of the necessary information is stored in a decentralised ledger which is verified by millions of sources and cannot be changed or tampered with.
Through the Winding Tree platform, Hahn Air is able to list inventory, manage the reservation requests and receive payments once the booking process is complete. Accepted payment methods include cash, credit card or cryptocurrency.
Maksim Izmaylov, founder of Winding Tree commented: “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.”