Emirates will accept BTC payments

Emirates, one of the largest airlines in the Middle East, has announced that it intends to adopt cryptocurrencies as part of its development plan.

As the company announced, it will develop shares using blockchain technology, make investments to gain exposure to the metaverse and intend on cryptocurrencies.

As part of this expansion plan, Emirates Chief Operating Officer Adel Ahmed Al-Redha said that the airline intends to employ BTC as a form of payment.

In addition, he stated that the company will issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as a way to engage more with its passengers and the general public.

Al-Redha also told a press conference that the Dubai-based airline will hire new staff for the metaverse in an effort to develop apps to monitor customer needs.

“NFTs and the metaverse are two different applications and approaches. With the metaverse, you will be able to transform all your processes – whether in operation, training, on-site sales or the complete experience – into an interactive application”, he said.

Meanwhile, in the case of blockchain technology, he highlighted that the company intends to use DLT to track plane records.

On the other hand, when asked about the state of the airline industry, Al-Redha said the industry is in a healthy recovery and that can be seen by the growing number of passengers.

Aviation and metaverse

Recently, Qatar Airways, another Middle Eastern airline, announced the launch of QVerse, a virtual reality (VR) experience for visitors to the airline’s website.

“With physical boundaries beginning to be challenged by the metaverse on an ever-increasing scale, it is exciting to adopt technology that allows all travel enthusiasts to enjoy a unique and immersive experience of our products and services,” said the Group CEO. Qatar Airways, HE Akbar Al Baker.