Flying for Bitcoin: Why airlines are slow to accept cryptocurrencies

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Flying for Bitcoin

Four years in the making

Emirates has introduced ticket payments through Crypto.com Pay on its website and mobile app. The new option is currently available only to UAE residents who book and pay for tickets in Emirati dirhams.

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The payment infrastructure is provided by Crypto.com’s Dubai-based entity. It became the first virtual asset service provider to receive the relevant licence from the Central Bank of the UAE. This means Emirates does not process cryptocurrency transactions itself and instead relies on a regulated intermediary.

Emirates had been working toward the launch for several years. Back in May 2022, the airline’s chief operating officer, Adel Ahmed Al Redha, spoke about plans to accept Bitcoin and develop projects involving NFTs and the metaverse. However, the carrier announced a specific integration only in July 2025, when it signed a memorandum of understanding with Crypto.com.

The first airline tickets bought with crypto

Latvia’s airBaltic became the first airline to allow customers to buy tickets with Bitcoin. It introduced the payment option in July 2014. At the time, Bitcoin was trading at around $600 and had a market capitalization of less than $10 billion.

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Polish airline LOT launched crypto payments in August 2015. Passengers could pay with Bitcoin for tickets to more than 60 destinations. Transactions were processed by Adyen and BitPay, meaning the airline received traditional currency rather than holding cryptocurrency on its balance sheet.

A new wave of interest emerged during the crypto market rally of 2017. U.S. carrier Surf Air began accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum for memberships and charter flights. Japanese low-cost airline Peach Aviation also planned to introduce Bitcoin payments but postponed the project in early 2018 because of sharp price fluctuations.

In 2021, the El Salvador subsidiary of Mexican low-cost airline Volaris joined the list. The decision followed El Salvador’s recognition of Bitcoin as legal tender and the launch of the state-run Chivo wallet.

In 2022, Spain’s Vueling promised to add 13 digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dogecoin. The service was expected to launch in 2023, but cryptocurrencies are still absent from the airline’s current list of payment methods. In May 2025, Air Arabia allowed passengers to buy tickets with AE Coin, a stablecoin pegged to the Emirati dirham. BermudAir announced plans to support more than 12 stablecoins but has not confirmed a full launch. In June 2026, South African airline LIFT added cryptocurrency payments through the Ozow service.

NFTs and loyalty programs

Ticket payments are not the only use of crypto technology in aviation. In August 2023, Lufthansa launched the Uptrip loyalty program on the Polygon blockchain. Passengers could scan their boarding passes, receive NFT cards for their flights and combine them into themed collections.

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That same year, Japan’s largest airline, All Nippon Airways, launched the ANA GranWhale marketplace. Its first collection featured works by aerial photographer Luke Ozawa. The company later offered 1,574 digital models of its first Boeing 787 for sale. Each model cost about $56, while one NFT bundled with the original photographic film was valued at approximately $715.

Emirates also promised in 2022 to issue collectible NFTs and develop metaverse projects. However, the airline ultimately reached the practical launch of ticket payments first.

Why crypto payments have not become mainstream

The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile. Bitcoin traded at nearly $69,000 in November 2021, but its price fell below $16,000 a year later.

Such fluctuations create additional difficulties for airlines. Tickets are often purchased several months before departure and may later be changed or refunded. If a carrier accepts Bitcoin directly, its value at the time of a refund could be very different from the original purchase price. Airlines therefore use intermediaries that accept cryptocurrency from passengers, convert it and transfer traditional currency to the carrier.

New projects have also become more cautious. Emirates limited the new payment option to the UAE market and handed transaction processing to a regulated intermediary. Air Arabia chose a stablecoin rather than Bitcoin.

Airlines must also deal with taxes, refunds, fraud prevention and different regulatory requirements in each country. IATA identifies payment costs, risk management, international taxation and transaction reconciliation among the main financial challenges facing airlines in 2026.

Emirates’ latest initiative shows that crypto payments have now reached some of the world’s largest airlines. However, widespread adoption has yet to materialize, as accepting Bitcoin directly remains too risky and complex for an industry that depends on stable pricing, refunds and cross-border settlements. Further adoption is therefore likely to rely on stablecoins, local currencies and licensed intermediaries that handle conversion and regulatory compliance.

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