Air Canada, which is the largest airline in Canada, is integrating a blockchain-based travel distribution platform built by Winding Tree, a Swiss blockchain startup.
Air Canada, which was established in 1937, offers scheduled and charter passengers and cargo air transportation. According to the company’s 2017 annual report, last year, 48.1 million passengers flew in Air Canada, representing a 7.3% y-o-y increase.
Air Canada has signed a letter of intent to take part in a decentralized open-source travel sharing platform created by blockchain travel network Winding Tree. By integrating the new blockchain platform, the firms intend to enhance the distribution and sale of air travel goods and offer direct link to inventory from suppliers. Keith Wallis, Director of Global Product Distribution for Air Canada, has the following to say about the project:
“Air Canada recognizes the importance of leveraging this next generation technology. We plan to integrate Air Canada’s Direct Connect API with Winding Tree’s public blockchain platform, giving blockchain-savvy users the ability to access our content directly from the source.”
Airline companies all over the world have been steadily implementing blockchain technology in their working processes both to enhance travelers’ experience and take forward supply chains and logistics. This month, European airline holding company Air France-KLM also collaborated with Winding Tree to lower costs for the company’s clients by removing intermediaries.
Air France-KLM believes that blockchain will assist in providing “a more advantageous travel offer for customers which is more profitable for suppliers, in particular by reducing the number of intermediaries.”
In August, the Australian Brisbane Airport Corporation collaborated with the TravelbyBit cryptocurrency payments platform to unveil the “world’s first digital currency friendly airport” and had already executed a blockchain-powered point-of-sale system in regional tourist towns.
