Having sold its flight operations in 2024, Volato (TMB, Houston Hobby) has now turned to bitcoin mining as a new line of business, but it says it will explore options to remain in business aviation by introducing "an enthusiasts' product" integrating cryptocurrency and Cessna Citation CJ operations.
The New York Stock Exchange-listed company revealed on February 24 that it began mining bitcoins and will hold them on the balance sheet starting in the first quarter of 2025. For now, its cryptocurrency is produced at ground level but Volato is optimistic about its plan to explore opportunities to mine in the air and integrate Citation business jets.
"We believe the Citation CJ is the right platform to start with as we explore how aviation and cryptocurrency mining intersect," CEO Matt Liotta said.
The company did not provide any further details about how exactly could it integrate the two. Liotta did not respond to ch-aviation's request for comment. Volato did say, however, that the launch of ground-based mining would allow it to "gain firsthand experience with mining operations as it continues development of its patent-pending aviation bitcoin mining technology."
Volato said it selected the CJ type due to its popularity (the ch-aviation fleets module shows 1,545 Cessna 525 Citations operating in the United States alone), efficient certification path, and high utilisation rates in operations.
The operator used to run a fractional ownership programme for HA-420 and G280 types but sold it to FlyExclusive (JRE, Kinston) in 2024. It recently retired the last aircraft from its Part 135 certificate. With no more aircraft under its certificate, Volato is currently a software company, proferring an empty leg booking system, mission control software, and now also bitcoin mining.
Cryptocurrency mining - in essence, complex computations that add and verify new blockchain data - is highly energy-intensive and increasingly tightly regulated, prompting the sector to seek new mining models.
