Emirates commenced trials of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass– a mobile app to help passengers easily and securely manage their travel in line with any government requirements for COVID-19 testing or vaccine information. The first passengers travelling from Dubai to Barcelona on EK 185 trialled the ‘digital passport’ to verify and share their pre-travel COVID-19 test status with Emirates. The trials are a step towards making travel more convenient, enabling travellers to manage COVID-19 related documentation digitally, safely and seamlessly throughout the travel experience. In the future, travellers will also be able to share vaccination certificates with authorities and airlines to facilitate travel. Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer said, “The ability to process passengers’ COVID-19 relevant data for travel digitally will be the way forward. We are pleased to have been pioneers and partner with IATA in trialling this initiative in real time and soon will be launching other initiatives to further enhance our customer experience.” The trial is being done on selected Emirates flights from Dubai to Barcelona and London Heathrow to Dubai; and will soon be expanded to include other routes. Eligible passengers are being personally invited to download the app and enrol for the digital travel pass ahead of their travels. In Dubai, Emirates has partnered with select Prime Health Care labs which are authorised to securely send test results to passengers via the app. Those travelling from the UK, can get their test done at select Screen4 labs. The IATA Travel Pass app will have an integrated registry of travel requirements to enable passengers to find accurate information on travel and entry requirements for all destinations regardless of their itinerary. Eventually …
Read More »Emirates to trial COVID-19 Travel Pass
International Air Transport Association (IATA) is partnering with Emirates to become one of the first airlines in the world to trial IATA Travel Pass – a mobile app to help passengers easily and securely manage their travel in line with any government requirements for COVID-19 testing or vaccine information. IATA Travel Pass enables Emirates passengers to create a ‘digital passport’ to verify their pre-travel test or vaccination meets the requirements of the destination. They will also be able to share the test and vaccination certificates with authorities and airlines to facilitate travel. The new app will also enable travellers to manage all travel documentation digitally and seamlessly throughout the travel experience. Adel Al Redha Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer said, “While international travel remains as safe as ever, there are new protocols and travel requirements with the current global pandemic. We have worked with IATA on this innovative solution to simplify and digitally transmit the information that is required by countries and governments into our airline systems, in a secure and efficient manner.” Nick Careen, IATA Senior Vice President for Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security said, “With its global customer base and network traffic, Emirates as a partner will also bring invaluable input and feedback to improve the Travel Pass programme. This is the first step in making international travel during the pandemic as convenient as possible giving people the confidence that they are meeting all COVID-19 entry requirements by governments. As borders re-open, IATA Travel Pass will be further enhanced with more capabilities to meet all governments testing or vaccination verification requirements and Emirates customers will be among the first to have these services.”
Read More »Emirates launches contactless airport experience at DXB
Emirates has launched an integrated biometric path at Dubai International airport (DXB). The contactless airport experience is now open to Emirates passengers travelling from and through Dubai. The integrated biometric path will give passengers a seamless travel journey from specific check-in to boarding gates, improving customer flow through the airport with less document checks and less queuing. Utilising the latest biometric technology – a mix of facial and iris recognition, Emirates passengers can now check in for their flight, complete immigration formalities, enter the Emirates Lounge, and board their flights, simply by strolling through the airport. The various touchpoints in the Biometric path allow for a hygienic contactless travel journey, reducing human interaction and putting emphasis on health and safety. Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer said, “We have always focused on providing a great customer experience at any touchpoint and now it is more vital than before to make use of technology and implement products, and introduce processes that focuses not only on fast tracking customers, but more importantly on health and safety during their travel journey. The state-of-the-art, contactless biometric path is the latest in a series of initiatives we have introduced to make sure that travelling on Emirates is a seamless journey and gives customers added peace of mind.”
Read More »Emirates sets safety standard for customers travelling as it resumes operations
Emirates Airline has unveiled multi-faceted measures for employee and customer care at every step of the travel journey, redefining safety and hygiene standards on board and on the ground. The new measures were implemented with the resumption of regularly scheduled passenger flights to nine destinations. Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates said “Emirates is implementing a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the traveller’s journey, to enhance the sanitisation of all touchpoints, and ensure the health and safety of our customers and employees. The risk of catching an infection on an aircraft is already very low, but we have spared no effort in reviewing and redesigning every step, from check-in to disembarkation.” “Every measure implemented is an additional reduction in risk, and taken altogether, our aim is really to make flying as safe as possible. We are working with all the stakeholders in Dubai – including the airport, immigration, health and aviation authorities to implement such measures, and we will continue to review and consult expert advice for any development and changes. We are all aware that we have to adapt to different practices during this pandemic in our day to day activities.” said Redha.
Read More »Emirates to operate its first A380 service to Cairo
Emirates will be operating its A380 service to Cairo International Airport on October 2, 2019, making it the first scheduled commercial airline to operate an A380 flight into Egypt. With the intent to make the world’s largest commercial passenger jet a part of the airline’s scheduled service to Cairo, this inaugural flight will re-affirm the airport’s infrastructure readiness ahead of regular A380 operations. The Emirates A380 service will operate as EK 927 and EK 928, departing Dubai at 08:15 hrs and arriving in Cairo at 10:00 hrs. The flight will depart Cairo at 13:15 hrs arriving in Dubai at 18:45 hrs on the same day. All timings are local. Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates, said, “Our close relationship with Egypt spans over 30 years and we reaffirm our commitment to the country by operating our iconic A380 to Cairo. We are setting the stage to make the popular A380 experience a part of our scheduled service to Cairo. We are confident that Egyptian travellers will enjoy the Emirates A380 experience, especially our innovative products such as the onboard lounge and shower spa.”
Read More »Emirates signs MoUs with three teams from Dubai Future Accelerators programme
Emirates has demonstrated its commitment to fostering innovation in the global aviation industry by signing MoUs with three teams from the sixth cohort of the Dubai Future Accelerators (DFA) programme. The companies, hailing from the USA, Germany and the UK, were selected from the pool of seven participant teams that worked with Emirates through DFA for nine weeks between March and May 2019. The MoUs were signed by Adel Al Redha, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, Emirates, and by representatives from the shortlisted companies — Opinsta (UK), Predapp (Germany) and Verusen (USA). Emirates joined the DFA programme in 2017. In what was a first earlier this year, Emirates and the Dubai Future Foundation announced that all the teams participating in the sixth cohort of the DFA programme would be dedicated to addressing three challenges set forth by Emirates in the domains of B2B procurement, seamless customer experience, and an integrated system for crew duty travel. The teams from Cohort 6 of the DFA programme worked with stakeholders from Emirates to map out requirements, refine their proposals and develop prototype solutions. Opinsta, Predapp and Verusen were chosen based on the fit of their proposed solutions, and broader application and scalability within Emirates. Adel Al Redha said, “Over the course of nine weeks, the interactions between the teams at Emirates as well as the participants of Cohort 6 of the Dubai Future Accelerators programme have resulted in a number of options we can explore to address the challenges we had defined.” Khalfan Belhoul, CEO at Dubai Future Foundation, said, “The MoUs signed today are the outcome of DFA’s offering of an ideal setting for Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, …
Read More »Emirates set to unveil world’s first integrated ‘biometric path’
Emirates is gearing up to launch the world’s first “biometric path” that will offer its customers a smooth and truly seamless airport journey at the airline’s hub in Dubai International airport. Utilising the latest biometric technology – a mix of facial and iris recognition, Emirates passengers can soon check in for their flight, complete immigration formalities, enter the Emirates lounge and board their flights, simply by strolling through the airport. The latest biometric equipment has already been installed at Emirates Terminal 3, Dubai International airport. It can be found at select check-in counters, at the Emirates Lounge in Concourse B for premium passengers, and at select boarding gates. Areas where biometric equipment are installed will be clearly marked. Adel Al Redha, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, Emirates, said, “Guided by our chairman His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Emirates continuously innovates and strives to improve our day-to-day business. After extensive research and evaluation of numerous technologies and new approaches to enhance our passenger journey, we are now satisfied with the preliminary work we have carried out and are ready to commence live trials of the world’s first biometric path at Emirates Terminal 3. These ground-breaking initiatives are a result of close collaboration with our stakeholders – particularly GDRFA who have been instrumental in the programme to bring the biometric path to fruition.” Major General Mohammed Ahmed Almarri, General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), Dubai, said, “We are pleased to roll-out these new initiatives at Terminal 3 in collaboration with Emirates and our airport stakeholders. The Smart Tunnel tests are running smoothly, and we are now preparing to mobilise the other biometric systems at the other areas …
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