Latvian carrier airBaltic has become the first airline worldwide to accept Bitcoin for ticket purchases. The airline operates flights to around 60 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Russia and the CIS.
“airBaltic has been ranked among the top 10 most innovative airlines globally,” said Martin Gauss, CEO of airBaltic. “Introducing Bitcoin as a payment option is part of our ongoing focus on innovation and on improving the customer experience.”
Tickets on airBaltic’s website are priced in euros, and customers who choose to pay with Bitcoin have the cryptocurrency converted to euros at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of purchase. To enable Bitcoin payments, airBaltic partnered with BitPay, a third-party payment processor that handles the conversion from Bitcoin to euros. The Bitcoin payment option is currently available when buying the airline’s lowest-fare tickets, marketed as airBaltic Basic class.