Member Article

Why is Crypto Becoming So Popular for Private Aviation? Industry Experts Give Their Views

A recession is just around the corner, and the negative economic consequences are already being felt in our lives. Yet, despite a looming financial crisis, the private aviation sector continues to disobey general market trends. Industry leaders claim record demand levels, whilst aviation brokers schedule flights to an increasingly diverse list of locations.

A large part of the growing interest in private jet travel is undoubtedly connected to changing customer preferences. One such significant change is related to the developing range of payment options and, more precisely, the growing availability of payments via cryptocurrency.

Private Fly recently stated that around one-fifth of its annual revenue now comes from digital currency payments, whilst Fast Private Jet declared that nearly a third of all customer transactions now happen through crypto services. According to data from ECOMMPAY, 20% of private jet users would pay using crypto if offered the opportunity.

To understand why some operators have become early adopters of crypto, whereas others are still deciding whether to implement digital currency payments, we spoke to leading industry figures, including the CEOs and founders of both Mirai Flights and Elbjets, the owner of Open Aero, and ECOMMPAY business development manager Simona Moosar.

Here’s what these industry experts had to say about cryptocurrency implementation.

Irakli Litanishvili, CEO and founder of Mirai Flights

“Many of our clients are invested in crypto, and we wanted to show our loyalty by giving them the option to pay directly using digital currencies. When we introduced crypto wallets to Mirai Flights, 70% of our users shifted to this new payment method.”

“As well as catering to existing clients, we saw crypto as an opportunity to reach a wider audience of new users. Although we weren’t hesitant about implementing crypto payments, various technological nuances had to be overcome. We developed our service together with ECOMMPAY and the project required a great deal of effort and cooperation.”

“The private aviation industry is still very old-school in many ways, preferring to work with conventional payment methods due to their familiarity. However, as crypto becomes more mainstream, there will be a significant competitive advantage for those who have integrated crypto into their workflows.”

Alexander Müller, CEO and Co-Founder of Elbjets

“Elbjets has been operating for just over a year, launching as travel restrictions eased during the summer of 2021. We were keen to solve the common private aviation industry pain points surrounding transactions, and understood the importance of offering crypto payments from the outset.”

“We wanted to settle transactions as quickly as possible using technologies like Open Banking, but also to offer clients more options than simply Visa and Mastercard. Younger fliers are increasingly moving away from payment methods such as bank transfers, and embracing more advanced forms of payment such as cryptocurrencies.”

“We’re seeing more and more requests from the younger generation to pay using digital currencies such as Bitcoin, and you can often tell by a client’s age how they will prefer to pay for a flight.”

Tatiana Uzel, Owner of Open Aero

“Open Aero has operated in the industry for over 10 years, offering high-quality services including charter flights and customised travel packages. At present, we don’t offer crypto payments to our clients, but are definitely considering them as an option due to the growing interest in digital currencies.”

“In our opinion, crypto is no longer a future concept, but something that’s already very much a part of our present reality. By implementing crypto payments, we can offer clients a greater selection of payment methods and hopefully attract a younger clientele.”

We don’t have concerns about the current volatility in the crypto markets, and we’re fairly sure that by implementing digital currency payments, we’ll see a growth in transactions. When we implemented Payment Links, for example, card transactions grew by 20%.“

Simona Moosar, Business Development Manager at ECOMMPAY

“There’s no doubt that cryptocurrencies are a hot topic in the private aviation industry, with many early adopters seeing significant revenue boosts from this relatively new payment method. However, some operators and brokers are still hesitant to integrate crypto into their payment workflow, which is understandable given that bank card payments still account for 80% of private aviation transactions.”

“Crypto is often viewed as volatile and prone to rapid devaluation. These issues can largely be overcome by working with stablecoins and using a platform that ties rates to USD or EUR for a fixed period to avoid rapid price fluctuations. Working with an intermediary can also help alleviate any negativity surrounding the use of cryptocurrencies, as some people still falsely believe that crypto transactions are illegal.”

“As for the other perceived downsides? Choosing a reputable payment partner can help to overcome regulatory issues or official licensing, as well as any headaches surrounding technical integration. In short, if a company can implement crypto correctly, the upsides outweigh the negatives, with speedy transfer times, low fees and no limits on transaction amounts.”

Summing up

Although cryptocurrencies haven’t yet hit the mainstream as a private aviation payment method, the number of millennials choosing to fly by private jet is growing, signalling a shift to a technologically-savvy demographic who have embraced digital currencies such as Bitcoin.

Having spoken to leading industry professionals, it appears that cryptocurrencies are a useful and potentially lucrative addition to a private aviation operator’s payment workflow, and a valuable tool for an industry undergoing rapid modernisation.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by ECOMMPAY LIMITED .