KLM, the national airline of the Netherlands, has declared a blockchain project that adds to blockchain’s traction in the airline sector. The global airline KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is utilizing blockchain technology in intercompany settlements process with its subsidiaries.

KLM, which is one of the world’s biggest airlines, has decided to associate with Dutch software startup Unchain.io to analyze the potential benefits of blockchain technology for its business and internal processes.

According to a report released last week, Unchain provided KLM Royal Dutch Airlines a strategic finance application based on blockchain technology, which is developed by the significant global enterprise software firm R3.

KLM Digs Blockchain

By developing R3’s Corda, an open-source enterprise blockchain platform, which was created to manage, record, and synchronize data, the new blockchain application is intended at streamlining KLM’s accounting and settlements process.

According to Jelle van der Ploeg, the CTO at unchain.io:

“Unchain’s mission is to provide organizations with solutions to simplify sharing data and transacting with their value chain. In the case of KLM, this means digitally transforming the settlement process with its subsidiaries.”

Dominique Vijverberg, a fintech specialist at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, said that the project was launched after the initial research within the company’s innovation arm, the KLM Digital Studio was found to be emphatic.

Blockchain Can Help Major Companies

KLM’s Digital Studio has been actively investigating emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and augmented reality, all of which are part of KLM’s digital transformation strategy.

Vijverberg said, “After initial learnings in smaller projects with the Digital Studio, KLM Finance is happy to announce this project, which we see as strategic to simplify our financial processes and to set an example for future blockchain projects that are no longer ‘test,’ but have real business impact.”

Vijverberg revealed that the firm intends to shift the company’s blockchain center from trials to real-world applications. 

Blockchain adoption has become a fashionable trend in the airline sector, which gives a handy tool for payments and booking, as well as logistics.

In 2018, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ parent company Air France-KLM operated with blockchain travel startup Winding Tree to reduce high costs for its clients by cutting out agents with blockchain technology.

Winding Tree has been an ally to various global airline companies, including Air Canada, The United Arab Emirates’ Etihad Airways, and Lufthansa. Blockchain will likely view more applications in complex industries, like aerospace, shipping, and logistics.