What the AirAsia ICO means for the airline industry

NICHOLAS TAY

Co-founder – Merlion Review Merlion Review (Singapore)

Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia said successful an interrogation that helium is analysing the imaginable of launching an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) for AirAsia (TechCrunch, 2018). I had the pleasance of speaking with cryptocurrency adept Amarpreet Singh to find retired the feasibility of this and if ICOs volition beryllium the adjacent large happening for the hose industry.

An advisory committee subordinate for implicit 40 ICO projects and invited talker for a plethora of tech forums, Amar is simply a seasoned fintech and blockchain adept who has amassed a wealthiness of tech acquisition moving for planetary organizations specified arsenic Microsoft, Airbus and the World Bank. He besides has a consulting location successful Singapore and a exertion halfway successful India that provides backmost extremity and beforehand extremity blockchain solutions.

TOP-3 reasons to clasp AirAsia ICO

In his comments to TechCrunch, Mr Fernandes said that Air Asia’s BIG points tin beryllium easy transferred to blockchain and that AirAsia has “a merchandise that tin beryllium a currency successful Big Loyalty, [and] we’re gathering a outgo level truthful the 2 tin wed rather nicely. We person an ecosystem that enables you to usage that currency” (TechCrunch, 2018). If this ICO materializes, AirAsia volition beryllium 1 of the largest and astir established airlines to follow this caller method of funding. To Amar, this determination is omniscient for 3 reasons.

1. Adopt oregon Lag

As aboriginal arsenic 2014, Latvian low-cost airline; AirBaltic has been accepting Bitcoin arsenic outgo (AirBaltic, 2014). Also, low-cost Japanese airline; Peach Aviation announced past twelvemonth that they volition judge bitcoins arsenic outgo (Bloomberg, 2017) and this twelvemonth affirmed their committedness to launching this outgo strategy contempt delays (Cointelegraph, 2018). Other airlines specified arsenic Lufthansa (Forbes, 2018), Surf Air (PR Newswire, 2018), S7 (S7, 2017) and SIA (Singapore Airlines, 2018) person besides announced plans to follow blockchain. Therefore Amar sees that moving forward, blockchain and yet ICOs volition go commonplace successful the hose manufacture and by acting quickly, AirAsia tin exploit their aboriginal adopter vantage and support an borderline implicit their competitors.

2. A deluge of ICO funding

In conscionable 2017 astir $5.6 cardinal was raised from ICOs, a immense leap from $240 cardinal successful 2017 (Business Insider, 2018). With truthful overmuch wealth going into the ICO space, it makes a batch of consciousness for an established institution similar AirAsia to motorboat their ain ICO and drawback arsenic galore caller funds arsenic possible.

3. Eliminate FX risk

Consumers volition besides payment arsenic they volition beryllium capable to usage the AirAsia tokens successful each destination that AirAsia flies to without being exposed to FX risk. An nonfiction by concern writer & speaker; Frances Coppola, besides agrees with Amar’s appraisal that cryptocurrencies tin beryllium utilized to importantly trim FX risk; albeit babelike connected the stableness of the cryptocurrency utilized successful settling the planetary payments (AmericanExpress, 2018).

The aboriginal of ICOs successful the Airline Industry

Operating successful the highly competitory hose industry, AirAsia perpetually has to innovate caller ways to connection higher worth to their customers oregon hazard losing them to different airlines. With the advent of ICOs, this caller root of backing volition beryllium a caller arena to vie in. However if AirAsia launches an ICO without creating existent inferior successful the tokens, it volition crumble into a gambling instrumentality and AirAsia volition not beryllium capable to harness the disruptive imaginable of blockchain arsenic an infrastructure to connection amended services. Therefore the situation for an ICO by AirAsia oregon immoderate different airlines is to make capable worth successful their tokens specified that passengers volition clasp onto the tokens careless of terms fluctuations.

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