Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) has become the latest airline to create a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) business.
Although global interest for NFTs has cooled since its peak in late 2021 and early 2022, with sources like the Financia Times reporting a marked drop in prices and trade volumes, some airlines are still keen to experiment with this type of asset.
AirBaltic and Etihad have launched NFT collections featuring “Planies” (aircraft-themed digital cartoons) and historical liveries, respectively. Other carriers, such as Air Europa in Spain, and the Argentinian low-cost airline flyBondi are looking for ways to incorporate NFTs into the passenger journey, for example by issuing NFTickets using technology developed by tech startup TravelX.
ANA has opted to create a digital marketplace, called ANA GranWhale NFT MarketPlace, where the Japanese carrier will offer a series of NFT artworks.
The first set of works, by aviation photographer Luke Ozawa’s, have been available as NFTs since May 30, 2023, and will be followed on June 7 by two digital 3D airplanes in ANA livery. However, the idea is that more digital artworks will be added in the future.
ANA has been particularly active in the field of technology that goes well beyond its core airline business. The Japanese airline group is also dabbling in projects such as the AvatarX (and the related AvatarX Prize) to research virtualization and robotic technologies, as well as the creation of ANA-NEO, a joint venture with digital game developer JP Games to develop metaverse-related projects.