Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandanavia’s largest airline, is on track to make Bitcoin and crypto a fast and viable payment method for airline tickets. The move would represent a seismic shift for digital assets from Wall Street to Main Street, pushing mainstream adoption of crypto for ordinary purchases.
In an interview with news outlet Dagens Næringsliv, Stig Kjos-Mathisen, managing director of the crypto trading platform Norwegian Block Exchange (NBX), board member of the Norwegian Computer Society Group for Blockchain, and a former senior executive at Norwegian Air, says,
“Everything is ready to go from our side.”
The Norwegian cryptocurrency exchange NBX is also a payment system tied to Norwegian Air. The exchange was founded in 2018 by Norwegian Air co-founder Bjørn Kjos, who recently stepped down as the airline’s CEO. Kjos, his son-in-law Stig Kjos-Mathisen and his son Lars Kjos are reportedly big Bitcoin and blockchain supporters, with the latter investing €400,000 ($446,000) in BTC.
The family business is expanding into crypto as NBX prepares for launch. The company says the exchange just completed a successful trial run.
“We capped the closed beta at 500 users who collectively completed over 13,000 trades during the duration of the beta.”
Norwegian Air will leverage NBX to drive crypto adoptionn with the option of rolling out rewards for customers and using smart contracts for airline tickets. NBX announced plans for crypto and airline integration last year.
“We aim to continue this journey of transformation in the financial world and the airline/aviation industry while providing the benefits of convenience and innovation for traders, travellers and everyone else.”
According to the NBX team, the platform’s beta users were motivated by the chance to win round-trip tickets with hotel accommodation for two to New York City. The giveaway is in sponsorship with Norwegian Holidays, the airline’s package holiday booking portal combining Norwegian Air flights with selected hotels in popular destinations.
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