Surf Air, the world's largest "all-you-can-fly" flight operator, announced late last week that it would accept Bitcoin and Ethereum as a form of payment for its monthly membership and charter offers.
This represents an important milestone in aviation, as a travel provider can successfully begin to accept cryptocurrencies for the first time. The private airline allows its users to pay for their places using the two crypto currencies via a mobile app. The airline serves several cities in California, Texas and Europe, according to the press release .
The company allows members to fly as often as they want for a monthly fee . Passengers are checked by a state-approved background check. As a result, they no longer have to wait in the security checkpoints. The acceptance of the cryptocurrencies is carried out in cooperation with Coinbase, which takes over the payment side.
Meaning for Surf Air:
CEO Sudhin Shahani, said in a statement to accept Bitcoin and Ethereum, was part of their broader efforts to shake up existing airline services.
"We had the digital currencies on our radar right from the beginning and we look forward to offering our members another quick and seamless way to do business with Surf Air," he said, adding:
"In addition, Bitcoin users are an enormously motivated community of early adopters. By creating networks between these forward-looking business models, I believe we are shaping the future for consumer-driven, experiential commerce. "Choosing Bitcoin and Ethereum was a natural evolution for Surf Air, whose roots are in Silicon Valley, and the company is a leader in the industry Tip of this larger cryptocurrency conversation.
Airlines, especially smaller, regional, are not averse to the crypto currency world. Some of them have started to accept Bitcoin over the years . The aerospace industry has also begun to explore applications of blockchain, including ticketing and maintenance tracking.