Emirates Airlines is set to begin acceptance of Bitcoin payments and enable the trading of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on its websites.
This was made known by the company’s chief operating officer of Emirates, Adel Ahmed Al-Redha during a media gathering held at the Arabian Travel Market, according to reports.
Al-Redha reportedly stated that the Dubai-based airline will be onboarding new employees who will be focused on blockchain-related projects such as crypto payments, blockchain tracking, metaverse and NFTs.
The news comes a few weeks after the airline revealed its NFT and metaverse plans. The company’s goal with the metaverse launch is to ensure the airline is “aligned with the UAE’s vision for the digital economy.”
Al-Redha said that NFT and metaverse are two different approaches. He also added that the airline would utilize blockchain technology to trace aircraft records.
“With the metaverse, you will be able to transform your whole processes — whether it is in operation, training, sales on the website, or complete experience — into a metaverse type application, but more importantly making it interactive,” ArabNews quoted Al-Redha as saying.
The executive revealed that Emirates plans to employ Bitcoin as a payment service while adding NFT collectables on the company’s websites for trading.
