Aeropaye, a Nigerian blockchain-based startup, is developing tokens to allow travelers to instantly get their air-tickets refunded for canceled or delayed flights.

Aeropaye CEO Musthapha Tijjani told NODO News that the startup is currently in talks with Qatar Airways, American Airlines, and the Lufthansa Group on projects to tokenize air tickets that are bought through its platform. The tickets can then be converted to digital credentials that can’t be tampered with, stolen, or reused.

The aim, Tijjani says, is to make refund claims flexible to safeguard the reputation of airlines and enhance customer experience and trust.

How it Works

With tokenized transactions, the personal ticket is locked away for safekeeping. It is replaced with a unique digital ID that can be limited to a specific device merchant or transaction type. Aeropaye hopes that these safeguards will eliminate fraud in processing refunds.

“We aim to enable airlines to capture the value from payments, with our instant blockchain-based low-cost settlement, the billing and settlement plan between stakeholders on our platform will make the end-to-end payment journey seamless,” Tijjani says.

Tijjani explains that the company uses two models: An Aeropaye direct payment, where you pay through the platform or an escrow payment structure. In the later, part of the money sits with the airline and other with Aeropaye.

“Basically, we integrate our solution at the checkouts on the airline websites,” Tijjani expounds. “You choose to pay with Aeropaye with our partnered airlines that are going to receive payments via Aeropaye.”

When a flight is canceled, the users can use a button that will direct them to book the next available flight or initiate an instant refund.

“There are two types of cancelations,” Tijjani says. “An involuntary and voluntary cancelation.” Voluntary cancelation is initiated from the passenger’s side when they miss the flight. “Here in Nigeria the refund for voluntary cancellation is at 70% of the total ticket,” he explained. Involuntary cancellation occurs when the airline cancels flights due to technical issues or weather problems.

Globally, most airlines opt for a 24-hour cancellation policy where travelers have up to 24 hours to cancel a flight for any reason and get a full refund to their original form of payment without paying any additional fees. Airlines that fail to comply are usually fined millions of dollars.

-Edited by Faustine Ngila, Shigeru Sato