Norwegian Air, one of the largest European airlines, is considering accepting digital currencies for flight bookings from travelers as soon as next spring.
The prospect was revealed by Stig Kjos-Mathisen, chief executive of Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX), in an interview with local news outlet DN.
The exchange will facilitate the payment infrastructure for the airlines and have already finished the development of the necessary infrastructure needed for customers to book tickets with digital assets.
“Everything is ready to go from our side,” Kjos-Mathisen said in the interview.
The crypto exchange and the airlines are aiming to roll out this feature this year, probably as early as the coming spring. However, it is still not clear if the airline will only accept Bitcoin or other digital currencies too.
A well-thought plan to accept crypto
Launched in 2018, NBX is targeting local traders with its digital asset trading services. After a significant development period, the exchange launched its beta program last September and has now started registering general traders.
The crypto exchange also received a sum of $1.6 million last September from Sparebanken Øst, one of the oldest operating banks in the country, in exchange for 16.3 percent of its ownership.
The investment was also fueled by the collaboration of the exchange and the airline company.
“Possible collaboration with the airline Norwegian Air Shuttle, a key player with NBX, could be a platform for launching new solutions on a mass scale, and the bank sees great market potential both nationally and internationally,” the bank then stated.
Notably, Kjos-Mathisen is the son-in-law of Bjørn Kjos, the founder and CEO of Norwegian Air. The airline mogul is also involved in the development of the crypto exchange since its early stage.
However, with Volatility in the crypto prices, it is to be seen how many bookings the airline gets with digital coins, or it just ends up as a promotional offer.
