Australia’s national airline, Qantas is the latest to join the NFT craze with its own digital collection. Qantas’ NFTs is the first for any airline to allow users to buy, sell and collect non-fungible tokens. Buyers can also earn Qantas points.
Stephanie Tully, the chief customer officer, highlighted that their customers have been collecting physical Qantas memorabilia for years. She said the NFTs would be their newest iteration. Qantas will allow cash transactions, as well as crypto, when it introduces its NFT collection in mid-2022.
Tully said the airline’s NFT collection will allow Qantas to engage the next generation of aviation and digital art enthusiasts. It will leverage blockchain technology to celebrate the company’s heritage and future. With its commitment to the environment, Qantas has promised that its NFTs will be delivered with net-zero emissions. It will utilize low-carbon platforms and carbon offsetting. This is an effort to fend off environmentalists over the usage of environmentally contentious blockchain technology transactions.
However, the Australian airline is already being criticized for the yet-to-be-launched NFT collection. David Wengier tweeted that there is no such thing as a good NFT. He said any good which Qantas might have done with the Green Tier and offsetting flights etc. will be completely undone by the non-fungible tokens.
The digital asset has also been at the receiving end for being used by businesses as a money grab scheme. Many believe that businesses use NFTs as a new revenue stream and people blindly pay for it.
