Almost a year since their passenger airplanes were grounded to a halt in response to coronavirus, a vice president of Emirates Airlines said the Dubai-based carrier has weathered the pandemic well.
Mohammed Al Hashimi, vice president Commercial Products Dubai, Emirates Airline, said the airline maintained consumer confidence by responding rapidly and efficiently to coronavirus in its early days back in March last year.
An independent survey carried out by Dubai World Trade Centre indicated that 90 percent of those survey consistently felt safe traveling with Emirates Airlines.
“We’ve kept traveller’s confidence naturally by offering very generous rebooking options for our customers and sticking to our promise of refunds. We processed over 1.7 million refunds last year, during the pandemic,” said Al Hashimi speaking at the Dubai Global Events Re-opening Forum as part of a panel of key stakeholders discussing the success and experience of the emirate’s 12-month journey to create the biggest and safest comeback in the events industry.
Emirates was among the first airlines to implement bio-safety procedures upon the resumption of flights in May including the distribution of hygiene kits on-board and personal protective equipment for cabin crew and airport employees in customer facing roles. It was also among the first airlines to provide free PCR tests for incoming travellers in the airport itself.
“In terms of our products and services, what we have done is we fast tracked some of the projects we had to make travel more efficient, safe and contactless like the biometrics, the baggage drop-offs and the check-in kiosks that we have in the airports,” he continued.
Emirates is continuously looking at how they can enhance their products and services in response to new information about coronavirus and the vaccination programme will go a long way in restoring consumer confidence, said Al Hashimi.
“As they say, you’re only as strong as your weakest link and I would say that the coordination and collaboration that has been taking place within the Dubai ecosystem with all my colleagues sitting around here and others is what has led us to this success and has put us on the right foot to ensure that tourism does come back to Dubai,” explained Al Hashimi.
Mohammed Al Hashimi, vice president Commercial Products Dubai, Emirates Airline.
Emirates, along with Etihad Airways, partnered with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to become among the first airlines in the world to trial a new app to help passengers manage their travel amid ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.
In the initial trial phase, expected to begin in April, Emirates customers travelling from Dubai will be able to share their Covid-19 test status directly with the airline even before reaching the airport through the app, which will then auto-populate the details on the check-in system.
“I think the UAE vaccination programme as a whole is an invaluable testament to how strong leadership is making sure that we keep our city and country safe,” said Al Hashimi.
“At Emirates, we’ve taken that step for all our employees in order to get them vaccinated and as most of the frontline staff are vaccinated today, we are seeing that play a vital role in the system processes that we are putting in place to get the consumer confidence back,” he added.
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