Dubai-based airline Emirates to add crypto payment option for ticket bookings, signs deal | Company Business News

Dubai-based airline Emirates has signed a preliminary deal with a Singapore-based crypto firm, Crypto.com, which will allow the airline operator’s customers to make payments through the crypto trading platform’s payment service, reported the news agency Reuters on Wednesday, 9 July 2025. 

The preliminary deal is expected to be effective next year (2026), as the airline giant aims to tap into the “younger, tech-savvy” customer segments that prefer payment using digital currencies such as cryptocurrencies, said Adnan Kazim, the deputy president and chief commercial officer of Emirates, in a statement cited in the agency report.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become a major hub for crypto companies in recent years, with companies collaborating with firms to implement crypto initiatives in sectors like real estate, school fees and transportation. 

Other carriers, such as Air Arabia, another Dubai-based airline, also accepted the UAE dirham-backed stablecoin AE Coin for its flight bookings in May 2025.

Dubai also set up the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in 2022 to regulate the virtual asset sector in the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) which hosts more than 650 crypto companies, as per the agency report.

Dubai Duty Free to accept crypto payments

Amid Dubai’s crypto expansion plans, a Gulf News report said that passengers travelling through the Dubai International Airport will likely be able to pay for items purchased at the Dubai Duty Free. 

The reports suggest that Dubai Duty Free also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the crypto firm Crypto.com on Wednesday, 9 July 2025.

The Dubai Duty Free witnessed sales of nearly 4.1 billion (UAE dihram) in the first half of 2025, according to the news portal’s report. The duty-free aims to give travellers more flexibility in changing their payment preferences.

“This MoU underscores our commitment to innovation and to providing greater convenience and choice for our customers,” said Ramesh Cidambi, Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free, at the signing held at the Emirates Group Headquarters, according to the news portal’s report.