Customers will soon be able to purchase Emirates flight tickets using crypto-currencies.
Emirates Airline COO, Adel Ahmed Al-Redha, announced at the Arabian Travel Market that the airline had plans to add Bitcoin as a ticket payment option. It also plans to launch its own non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and build its own metaverse. The carrier hopes that this entry into the digital space will connect customers in a faster and more flexible way, reports Inside Bitcoins.
NFTs are digital assets that can be purchased using crypto-currency, but act differently where a crypto-currency, such as Bitcoin, is fungible, meaning that all tokens are equal, each NFT is unique and holds its own value, according to mytNFT. Customers will be able to buy, sell and trade Emirates’ NFTs on the airline’s website once they have been launched.
“We are excited about the opportunities in the digital space of the future and are committing a significant investment in financial and resourcing terms to develop products and services using advanced technologies that will deliver on revenue, brand experience, and business efficiencies,” said Chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
The airline anticipates that the ability of its customers to use Bitcoin as a form of payment through its website has the potential to open up new markets and make it more attractive to a broader potential customer base, according to Simple Flying.
Emirates will on-board new employees who will focus on the blockchain-related projects such as crypto-payments, aircraft tracing, the metaverse, and the trading of NFT collectibles. It plans to repurpose its Expo Pavilion into a Development Centre for the new teams.
Merriam-Webster defines a blockchain as a digital database, and the technology used to create it, which contains information that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large decentralised, publicly accessible network.
According to Blockworks, Emirates first made public its plan in April to spend “tens of millions of dollars” on a strategy to extend its services to the metaverse and to develop collectible and utility-based NFTs, with a launch anticipated in the upcoming months.
“With the metaverse, you will be able to transform your whole processes into a metaverse-type application but, more importantly, you will make it interactive,” said Al-Redha. According to Merriam-Webster, a metaverse is a highly immersive virtual world where people gather to socialise, play, and work.
