Emirates begins accepting cryptocurrency payments for flights

Mehab Qureshi Tue, July 28, 2026 at 11:15 AM PDT | 3 min read

Emirates has begun accepting cryptocurrency payments for flights. On July 28, the airline launched Crypto.com Pay across its website and app, allowing customers with a Crypto.com account to pay for tickets directly from their digital wallets.

The option is available to eligible UAE residents for bookings priced and settled in Emirati dirham (AED). It appears at checkout on emirates.com and the Emirates App, with transactions processed in line with UAE regulatory standards. The move fulfills a partnership the two companies signed in July 2025, taking the project from memorandum to live product in under a year.

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"Bringing this initiative to life delivers on our commitment to expanding customer choice in how they pay for travel," said Adnan Kazim, Emirates' deputy president and chief commercial officer, pointing to "a younger, digitally fluent generation who manage their money and plan their journeys primarily from their phones."

Eric Anziani, president and chief operating officer of Crypto.com, called the deal "a milestone for Crypto.com and our Pay feature," and credited the UAE's "forward thinking approach to innovation."

Just How Big Emirates Is

Emirates is the world's largest long-haul international airline and, by its own results, the most profitable.

For the financial year ended March 31, 2026, the airline posted a record profit of AED 19.7 billion (about $5.4 billion) on record revenue of roughly $41 billion, and carried 53.2 million passengers. The wider Emirates Group cleared AED 24.4 billion (around $6.6 billion), its best result ever.

Founded in 1985 and owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, the airline flies a fleet of about 277 wide-body aircraft to more than 140 destinations. It is the largest operator of both the double-decker Airbus A380 and the Boeing 777, and at the 2025 Dubai Airshow it committed a further $41.4 billion to new jets.

Dubai, UAE – November 8, 2024: A row of Emirates Airlines airplanes at the terminal in Dubai, UAE.

Its reputation, however, rests on the cabin. Emirates is a fixture near the top of global airline rankings and a byword for premium travel — its A380s feature onboard shower spas in first class, a lounge and bar for premium flyers, and private first-class suites, alongside chauffeur-driven airport transfers. Putting a crypto checkout button in front of that customer base is what makes the launch notable.

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How It Works

• On mobile: Customers booking in the Emirates App are sent to the Crypto.com app to approve the payment from their wallet, then returned to Emirates for their confirmation and e-ticket.
• On desktop: Customers select Crypto.com Pay, scan a QR code on the booking page, and approve the payment in the Crypto.com app.

Emirates is paid in AED, with the crypto side handled inside the Crypto.com account.

Why It's Happening in Dubai

The launch builds on the UAE's push to become a crypto and fintech hub.

The integration runs through Crypto.com's Dubai entity, which it says was the first Virtual Asset Service Provider granted a Stored Value Facilities licence by the Central Bank of the UAE — the regulatory approval that lets it handle payments at all.

It also supports Dubai's Cashless Strategy under the D33 economic agenda, which aims to make 90% of all transactions across government and private sectors digital by the end of 2026. Crypto.com is expanding its retail app to UAE customers, with more than 250 cryptocurrencies available, and has separately partnered with Dubai Finance to accept digital payments for government services.

This story was originally published by TheStreet.