Russian Company, Blockchain, and New Opportunities

Gazpromneft-Aero is part of the Russian oil firm Gazprom Neft. The company made an interesting announcement on Monday. Based on the information taken from this announcement, Gazpromneft-Aero completed a successful pilot of its blockchain-based refueling project, Smart Fuel. This project once more highlighted the importance of blockchain technology.

Interestingly, the new platform was implemented for more than 100 scheduled flights of Russian budget carrier Smartavia. Importantly, alongside Smartavia, the pilot project involved major banks VTB as well as Raiffeisenbank.

People should keep in mind that, the blockchain-based trial in Murmansk ran from September 2020 to December 2020. The company will continue providing its refueling payment solution to Smartavia.

Based on the major blockchain framework Hyperledger Fabric, the new tool uses smart contracts to automate as well as accelerate refueling payment processing times. Interestingly, the system is capable of processing refueling payments in a short period of time. According to Gazpromneft-Aero traditional payment transactions usually take up to four or five days.

Aviation and blockchain

It is no secret that airlines have to cope with various challenges. For example, the traditional process for refueling payments is paperwork-heavy and involves excessive spending. As a reminder, it is impossible to forecast the exact volume of fuel needed for a flight. Hence, airlines need to transfer an excessive amount of funds to fuel operators to make sure there is enough to cover the refueling. Hopefully, the new tool guarantees data safety as well as maximum transparency for all sides involved in a transaction.

It was not the first blockchain-based project for Gazpromneft-Aero. For instance, the company worked with Russian air carrier S7 Airlines on fuel delivery and payment system based on distributed ledger technology. Airlines should pay more attention to blockchain technology. As can be seen from the example of Smartavia, it is possible to optimize various expenses thanks to this technology.