Japan's Largest Airline Group ANA Launches NFT Marketplace

Japan's largest airline group holding company All Nippon Airways (ANA) has launched a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace featuring aviation photography, digital collectibles and more on the Ethereum blockchain. At launch, the marketplace supports the MetaMask wallet as well as payments with fiat currency via credit card.

The marketplace, called ANA GranWhale NFT Marketplace, was released through its subsidiary ANA NEO, which focuses on creating immersive digital experiences across the ANA ecosystem. The first NFT collection on the site will feature work from aviation photographer Luke Ozawa, who has been taking photographs of planes for half a century.

Other collections include NFTs of two digital 3D airplanes, including a customized Boeing 787 that the airline introduced in 2011 and a generative art collection called Airbits, which features pixelated airline pilots.

"The ANA Group will apply NFT to the aviation industry and promote the business to develop new connections with customers," the company said in a press release.

ANA Holdings was established in 2013 and touts itself as the largest airline group holding company in Japan comprised of 69 companies including ANA and Peach Aviation. ANA NEO is also working on a metaverse travel experience called ANA Gran Whale, which will integrate passengers' flight histories into their digital avatars.

ANA joins other airlines looking to integrate crypto concepts into their business offerings. In March, low-cost Argentinian airline expanded its partnership with NFT ticketing company TravelX to offer all e-tickets as NFTs on the Algorand blockchain.

TravelX also partnered with Spanish airline Air Europa in April 2022 to launch a series of NFT tickets linked to special perks and events, while Latin American crypto exchange Lemon integrated TravelX onto its platform in October 2022, allowing users to buy and sell airline tickets.