Singapore Airlines Will Launch a Blockchain Loyalty Wallet App for Frequent Flyers

Singapore Airlines, one of the world’s leading
airline operators, is set to launch a blockchain-
based loyalty wallet to enhance and further
frequent flyers’ spending of accumulated air
miles.
Singapore Airlines (SIA), has announced its plan
to launch a loyalty digital wallet based on
blockchain technology for its KrisFlyer frequent-
flyer program, enabling travelers to easily spend
their air miles at retail partners. The application
will help with ‘everyday spending’ of passengers’
digital KrisFlyer miles in ‘point-of-sale
transactions at participating retail merchants,’
the announcement added.
While details are scarce, SIA will deploy its own
private blockchain that sees participating
merchants and partners for the digital loyalty
program. The airline operator confirmed a
successful deployment of the application in a
proof-of-concept trial in collaboration
technology partner Microsoft and testing base
KPMG’s Digital Village in Singapore.
The endeavor is a notable endorsement of
blockchain technology by one of the world’s
most popular and highly-rated airline operators –
also Singapore’s national airline – in a country
that commonly serves as a major transit hub in
Asia.
Laying claim to launching the ‘world’s first
blockchain-based airline loyalty digital wallet’,
Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong
stated:
“This groundbreaking development in which we
will be using blockchain technology to ‘digitalise’
KrisFlyer miles is a demonstration of the
investment we are making to significantly
enhance the digital side of our business for the
benefit of our customers.”
The application is expected to roll out for
customers in about six months. Singapore
Airlines is currently roping in retail merchant
partners, initially in Singapore, for its blockchain
wallet air miles program.
Singapore Airlines’ initiative to foray into the
blockchain space joins a number of other airlines
and airports in the aviation industry to embrace
cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Last
month, Brisbane international airport began
accepting cryptocurrencies like bitcoin at retail
stores within its terminals. A Polish airline began
accepting bitcoin as early as mid-2015 while
Peach Aviation became Japan’s first airline to
accept the cryptocurrency last year.
In other use cases, Russian airline S7 began using
the Ethereum blockchain to sell flight tickets last
year whereas Air New Zealand confirmed its
research into using the public Ethereum
blockchain for “a number of potential use cases.”
French insurance giant AXA also began using
Ethereum’s public blockchain to automate
compensation for air travelers as a part of its
flight delay insurance offering.
Elsewhere, German airline giant Lufthansa
invested in a Swiss blockchain startup through
an ICO last year, revealing its intent to plug in to
a B2B blockchain marketplace, also based on a
public Ethereum blockchain.