ATPCO, the Airline Tariff Publishing Company, is partnering with blockchain firm Blockskye in a pilot project to test the application of blockchain technology in the airline industry.

ATPCO is a privately owned software company that focuses on data management for the aviation industry. The firm collects and distributes data related to fares for the sector.

Blockskye is a founding member of Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. It uses blockchain and Ethereum (ETH) to offer inventory booking for the travel industry. Additionally, the firm provides transaction management services for the entertainment sector.

The two firms made the announcement while releasing a whitepaper on blockchain technology. They jointly unveiled the paper detailing the said technology and its application to the airline distribution.

ATPCO has partnered with Blockskye in a bid to explore how blockchain can be used in the future of airline offerings management. The two will be working together with SITA to analyze how the technology can benefit the airline industry.

SITA is an international information technology company. It focuses on offering IT as well as telecommunications solutions to the aviation industry.

Useful technology

The three companies are optimistic that the distributed ledger technology can be quite useful in the industry. Consequently, the partners are deliberating on how the sector can use decentralized airline offers to create market value. They are basing their discussion on One Order and New Distribution Capability (NDC) initiatives. The latter was fronted by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Thus, this project will aid airlines and their partners to manage the rising volumes of data both accurately and safely. Since the pilot project is a detached network that features connectivity in real time, it will leverage NDC exchange. Travel agents and airlines will use the platform to exchange information cheaply and efficiently.

Airlines and agents provide more value and variety via NDC. As a result, it is necessary to manage offers accurately and consistently. Hence, NDC integrates shopping data sources and fulfillment across the entire value chain. Consequently, the pilot project will strengthen NDC exchange with decentralized ledger technology. Therefore, offering a cheaper and safer alternative for airlines as well as agents.