Russian airline S7 is teaming up with Gazprom Neft to refuel its aircraft using smart contracts. The smart contracts will remove the need for pre-payment, bank guarantees, and will further mitigate against any financial risks in the refueling process. The new partnership will help to reduce costs and save time both on the tarmac and in the office.
Under the new smart contract system S7 is putting in place, the fueling of its aircraft will now be almost identical to the fueling of a car at a petrol station. Gazprom Neft will fill the plane with jet fuel and S7 will have its account debited by the necessary amount. Previously, this process would require S7 to pre-pay for the fuel months in advance, meaning that if the flight was canceled it lost money. Blockchain technology and smart contracts are helping businesses around the globe to become more efficient – this is just another case of how it can make day to day operations more efficient.
S7 Already Using Blockchain Technology
S7 is no stranger to blockchain technology, it currently already has a handful of blockchain applications running in its business. In July 2017, S7 teamed up with leading Russian bank – Alfa-bank – to provide ticket sales via the Ethereum blockchain. This partnership allows funds to be processed in a more time-efficient manner and it prevents tickets from being sold on illegally.
Similarly to S7, UEFA also sells tickets for its football games using blockchain technology. In a statement, Pavel Voronin – Chief Information Officer of S7 Group – said, “We were the first to being using smart-contracts for letters of credit. After that, we developed a blockchain platform to automate trading operations with various counterparties, and launched a mutual-settlement service for air-ticket sales agents. Our next step is a service to automate accounting in refueling.”
Smart Contracts are Evolving
The use of smart contracts enables procedures to be automated and this helps to cut costs for the companies involved. It also removes a large portion of human error from the equation too. Unfortunately, that human error can be passed onto the smart contract via the coding language. Fortunately for S7 – and all other companies looking to use smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain – Axoni has created a new smart contracting language called AxLang. It is designed to be inherently flawless, meaning it cannot be hacked or contain any errors. It self-tests after every line of code is written to check for errors and it won’t compile until all issues are fixed. To do this it uses a suggestion system, so most of the code is pre-written – meaning that developers have a guiding hand to keep them writing flawless code.
Russia Pioneering Blockchain Tech
Russia is well aware of the advantages blockchain technology provides society with. Following claims in the media that the last round of elections in the country were rigged, the government has been working on implementing a blockchain voting system. This new blockchain voting system is proving very popular in Russia and in America too.
In the upcoming 2020 US elections, Jared Polis – candidate for Colorado governor – has pledged to implement a blockchain voting system to help ensure votes are counted properly, fairly and ensure that no voter fraud has occurred. This new blockchain voting system – if used correctly – could stamp out claims of rigged votes and false leaders around the globe. However – as with all blockchain solutions – if the blockchain is private and centralized there is still chance for manipulation, meaning it might appear on the surface to solve the rigging issue, but in fact makes it worse.
Hopefully, S7 tests its smart contracts well before rolling them out to all flights. Otherwise, any bugs in the system could trigger major disruptions to flights and cause many planes to leave without enough fuel – meaning extra stops. This could annoy passengers and cause serious damage to the brand. While blockchain solutions are wonderful to see, before possibly disrupting people’s schedules it’s best to test to the max and prepare for every possible outcome – maybe keep the old system in the background just incase.
