Santiago Balbi at ALTA Aviation Law Americas 2022

Rio de Janeiro, September 15, 2022. During the first day of ALTA Aviation Law Americas, Santiago Balbi, partner at Bruchou & Funes de Rioja, shared with attendees a presentation on the Blockchain-based business model for the airline industry.

The company, a member of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) since April 2022 and a pioneer in developing tradable solutions for aviation based on blockchain technology, proposes the distribution of airline products or tickets as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Solutions that will bring more efficiency and immediacy to purchase operations, refunds, cancellations or insurance collection, exponentially improving the user experience and generating efficiency and profitability to airlines.

And although talking about Blockchain may still seem foreign to the airline industry, Balbi assured that this technology will undoubtedly be the next evolution of the internet and business, just as web 1 and web 2 were in their time.

“At TravelX we are pioneers in the application of Blockchain technology for 100% transactional purposes for the travel industry, which means that we seek to help optimize an airline’s sales and post-sales process through this new technology.  By distributing its tickets as NFTickets, any airline will be able to offer its customers a better, more flexible product, generating, at the same time, strong improvements in efficiency, guaranteeing traceability and revenue through the configuration of smart contracts,” says Francisco Vigo, Chief Commercial Officer of TravelX.

“TravelX’s mission is to turn the promise of the future into solutions for today: scalable and adaptable tools for airlines and airline-related companies. By being a member of ALTA, TravelX contributes to make available to all its other members the knowledge and technologies that will enable the transition to a more efficient, innovative and massive industry,” says José Ricardo Botelho, Executive Director & CEO of ALTA.

Additionally, TravelX and Air Europa, also an ALTA member, were recently honored during the Future Travel Experience Global 2022 event. The award was given for Air Europa being the first airline to adopt Blockchain technology for inventory management and distribution, as well as for distributing the first non-fungible airline tickets, or NFTickets.

Both companies will auction tickets for a special flight to Miami, scheduled for November 29th of this year, each of which is, in turn, a unique piece of artwork. In addition, the ticket includes access to various benefits and an art event. The first NFTicket auctioned by Air Europa for this flight was sold for just over one million dollars.