Emirates Airline has officially integrated cryptocurrency payment options into its booking channels, allowing eligible UAE residents to purchase flight tickets using digital currencies.
The feature is integrated directly into emirates.com and the official Emirates mobile app. Travellers holding an account with crypto exchange platform Crypto.com can select Crypto.com Pay at checkout for flight transactions priced and settled in UAE Dirhams.
The technical integration runs through Crypto.com’s Dubai-registered entity, which holds a Stored Value Facilities licence from the Central Bank of the UAE.
On the initiative, Adnan Kazim, Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer at Emirates said, “Bringing this initiative to life delivers on our commitment to expanding customer choice in how they pay for travel. It also reflects the rapidly evolving preferences of a younger, digitally fluent generation who manage their money and plan their journeys primarily from their phones and they expect the airlines they fly with to keep pace."
Adnam Kazim added, "Moving from signature to launch with Crypto.com in under a year is a credit to both teams, and to a regulatory environment that makes this kind of innovation possible, reflecting the UAE’s and Dubai's ambition to lead in fintech and the digital economy.”
The payment expansion offers greater flexibility when settling airfares while furthering local financial tech initiatives. The move aligns with the Dubai Cashless Strategy, a core target of the emirate’s D33 Economic Agenda, which aims to ensure 90% of all private and public sector transactions across Dubai are completed digitally by the end of 2026.