Hahn Air, a German carrier and provider of indirect distribution services to other airlines, announced that it has joined the Camino blockchain consortium facilitated by Chain4Travel. As a new validator of the network, according to the announcement, Hahn Air will be validating transactions that are submitted within the network. The Camino blockchain is a decentralized private network that restricts access to members, all of whom go through a “Know Your Customer” (KYC) process to validate identity and authenticity. As each validator is approved, the Camino blockchain is able to use Proof-of-Stake Authority (PoSA). Compared with Proof-of-Work validation, this allows for reduced energy consumption and significantly increased transaction speed, according to the announcement. Camino is governed by its consortium members, who are key players in the travel industry, including TUI, a major travel supplier; and Eurowings, a low-cost carrier.

Blockchain technology holds enormous potential for the travel industry as it simplifies processes, facilitates collaboration among market participants and enhances the customer experience, according to the announcement. Use cases for the travel industry are, for example, enhanced processes for inventory management, settlement, ancillaries and loyalty programs. Hahn Air has already gained experience with blockchain technology by issuing the world’s first air ticket on the blockchain in 2019. Mathieu Montmessin, executive vice president-research and development for Hahn Air, said the company is looking forward to co-creating Camino as the worldwide operating system for travel products and to have an influence on the development of new travel products. Camino, he said, allows communication and collaboration among partners “at eye level.” This, he said, “will stimulate the creation of future business models and the travel products of tomorrow which will ultimately be a great asset to our partner airlines and travel agencies.”