Emirates launches Crypto.com Pay for flight bookings, limited to eligible UAE residents paying in dirhams. The service completes a 2025 partnership but details on fees and refunds remain unclear.
Emirates launched Crypto.com Pay on July 28, allowing eligible UAE residents to pay for flight bookings through emirates.com and the Emirates App. The option applies only to bookings priced and settled in UAE dirhams and requires an active Crypto.com account.
The rollout completes the partnership announced in July 2025, when Emirates and Crypto.com signed a memorandum of understanding to explore adding the payment service. At that stage, the companies said implementation would depend on technical readiness and regulatory approval.
Customers will see Crypto.com Pay among the available checkout methods when a qualifying itinerary meets the residency and currency conditions. Emirates has not announced access for travellers outside the UAE or bookings denominated in other currencies.
The launch statement did not identify every supported digital asset or disclose payment fees. It also did not explain how refunds will be handled. Emirates said bookings are settled in AED.
The process differs by device. Mobile customers selecting Crypto.com Pay inside the Emirates App are redirected to the Crypto.com app, where they approve the transaction from their wallet. They then return to Emirates to receive the booking confirmation and electronic ticket. Desktop customers select the same checkout option on emirates.com, scan a displayed QR code and approve the transaction through the Crypto.com app. Emirates issues the confirmation and ticket after approval. The companies did not publish processing-time guarantees or describe procedures for failed, delayed or reversed payments.
Emirates Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer Adnan Kazim said the launch reflects the preferences of a "younger, digitally fluent generation." That is the airline's assessment; Emirates did not release customer-demand or expected-transaction data with the announcement.
Crypto.com said the integration runs through Foris DAX Middle East FZE, its Dubai entity operating under a Stored Value Facilities licence from the Central Bank of the UAE. The company announced in May that it was the first UAE virtual asset service provider to receive that licence. The Central Bank's current legal framework treats virtual-asset payment services, stored value and digital money services as licensed financial activities. Stored Value Facilities providers must follow customer due-diligence, record-keeping, data-protection and anti-money-laundering requirements.
The licence also allowed Crypto.com to advance a separate arrangement for Dubai government fees, with settlement conducted in dirhams or approved dirham-backed stablecoins. That government programme is separate from Emirates' commercial booking integration.
The rollout supports the Dubai Cashless Strategy, which targets 90% cashless transactions across the public and private sectors by the end of 2026. Emirates and flydubai signed separate agreements with Dubai Finance in October 2025 to support digital-payment adoption in tourism.
The Emirates-Crypto.com relationship began as an exploratory agreement in July 2025. The move from that memorandum to a live checkout option provides a confirmed commercial use case, although the companies have not disclosed transaction volumes, customer targets or revenue terms.
Crypto.com President and Chief Operating Officer Eric Anziani called the launch a "milestone" for Crypto.com Pay. No independent usage figures were released to show how flight payments compare with card, bank-transfer or other Emirates checkout methods.
The next updates will concern supported assets and refund treatment. Whether Emirates expands the service to more residents, markets or settlement currencies is not yet decided. Neither company announced a timeline for those decisions. The immediate service remains limited to eligible UAE residents making AED-priced bookings through Emirates' website or app.
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