One of the world’s best airlines is now flying to the metaverse. Yep, Emirates is launching NFTs and metaverse experiences—both for its customers and its employees.
The airline unveiled its plans last night, promising both ‘collectable’ and ‘utility-based’ NFTs, with the first projects already underway.
The NFT collections should launch in the coming months.
The plan is an offshoot of the direction Emirates hinted at the Emirates Pavilion at Expo 2020—a site that was so popular it will now be repurposed into an innovation centre, with the airline also announcing that they will be bringing talent from across the world to work on its Web3 projects in both the metaverse and NFT spaces.
Emirates: the UAE is blazing the way in the digital economy
“Dubai and the UAE are blazing the way in the digital economy, having a clear vision supported by practical policies and regulatory frameworks in areas such as virtual assets, artificial intelligence, and data protection,” H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, said.
“Emirates has always embraced advanced technologies to improve our business processes, enhance our customer offering, and enrich our employees’ skills and experiences. We are excited about the opportunities in the digital space of the future and are committing a significant investment in financial and resourcing terms, to develop products and services using advanced technologies that will deliver on revenue, brand experience, and business efficiencies.”
“It is fitting that our future-themed Emirates Pavilion at Expo is being repurposed as a hub to develop cutting-edge future experiences aligned with the UAE’s vision for the digital economy,” Sheikh Ahmed added.
NFTs changing UAE-based artists lives
Esquire recently spoke to UAE-based artist Kristel Bechara, whose career has been completely changed once she pivoted into the NFT space with her art.
Read part of our conversation here:
What was life like as a digital artist before the NFT evolution?
I’ve had to defend my digital art for years. I had to explain to people the process for how I created my work, but people wouldn’t accept it as art, and it was always valued less than my traditional paintings. And on top of that, I used to find copies of it in the mall here in Dubai, or selling on Amazon in very low quality, and I would have to hunt people down, which took so much time!
How did your life change once you discovered NFTs?
NFTs became an authenticator for my work, I no longer had to prove to people that the work was mine. And, honestly, it doubled my revenue as well! I’m now able to sell my digital art for the same value of my physical paintings. I even create NFTs for my physical art to act as a smart contract, which I believe will make NFTs the norm for all kinds of art.
I’m a proud digital artist; I don’t have to hide behind my traditional skills, my drawings, and my paintings, because I like to do both. I’ve also become one of the founders of the NFT community here in Dubai, and we create events regularly, and are building projects together.