The largest Russian airline operator S7 has performed tests on a blockchain-based application for tracking paperwork and data related to refuelling of planes, as mentioned in an official release on 27th August 2018.
S7 along with Gazpromneft-Aero, its fuel partner and Alfa Bank, one of Russia’s largest private commercial banks, has been the first one in the country to use a blockchain powered digital smart contract for refuelling an aircraft. The application was tested by the crew on a domestic flight, at Tolmachevo International Airport.
“As a technology leader in the industry, S7 Airline’s analysis and, with sufficient justification, introduces promising technologies, including blocking. We were the first to start using smart contracts for carrying out transactions-letters of credit. After that, we developed a block-platform for automation of trading operations between several counter-parties and launched a service for mutual settlements with agents selling air tickets,” stated the official press release. The airline sees “automating settlements for fuel supply” as its next step.
The blockchain technology and its application of smart contracts are capable of enhancing settlement transparency, eliminating some of the manual operations and speeding up the entire process. The smart contract under the AFSC system monitors and matches the required volume of fuel to its price. Based on this data, the transactions, payments, and refuelling are carried out. The entire process gets completed in 60 seconds, as mentioned in the release.
“This project has become an important stage in the development of Alfa Bank’s block-platform. We see a huge potential in the technology of smart contracts – with their help we are able to effectively meet the challenges that are extremely difficult for traditional banks and provide the most favorable and fast service to our customers,” shared Maksim Pershin, co-director of the corporate investment unit of Alfa Bank.
So, this application of smart contract is an “automated trading operation” among three entities- the airline, fuel provider and bank. This venture into the blockchain space highlight S7’s efforts to utilise global technological developments for actively improving user experience and services.
