Microsoft recently announced that the blockchain Proof-of-Concept (PoC) project with Australian travel agency Webjet has been moved to the pilot stage in 2017, CoinDesk reported.

The update follows November announcement where the companies partnered to develop blockchain PoC for online travel payments and bookings.

The recent announcement was made during the CoinDesk's annual developer conference ‘Construct 2017’, where Microsoft’s senior software development engineer Cale Teeter and technical architect Eric Maino spoke about the blockchain project stating that it will attain its ‘new development status’ this year in coming months.

“Webjet wanted to see, instead of everyone running their own proprietary systems, a system that connects companies they own. They've been running their real data through it and they've been finding interest discrepancies in the business, and they're hoping to expand it out,” Maino spoke during the conference, as reported by CoinDesk.

The blockchain project was termed as ‘first-of-its-kind in the travel industry’ by two companies. The blockchain PoC is expected to create a new industry standard by improving customer experiences and lowering the costs associated with bookings across the travel industry.