BANGKOK, 13 June 2024: To commemorate World Environment Day and as part of an environmental strategy that includes a commitment to consuming responsibly, Emirates is repurposing more than 50,000 kilogrammes of materials from 191 aircraft undergoing a cabin interior refresh. 

Emirates will give new life to the materials and is personally producing thousands of handmade children’s backpacks and schoolbags, which will be donated to community schools and organisations supporting early education across Africa and Asia this year.

To minimise waste, Emirates’ Engineering team found a way to repurpose the fabrics from the economy class seats of 22 Airbus A380 aircraft that have completed the retrofit process. 

The project recovered 5,205 kilogrammes of scrap materials, including seat fabric of 95% wool and 5% nylon composition with a flat weave structure sourced from Germany and Ireland. The materials were identified as ideal for upcycling due to their durability and non-flammable nature, and a decision was made to make high-quality backpacks for children in need.

In the workshop at Emirates Engineering, a dedicated team of tailors creatively designed a whole range of backpacks for children of different ages and worked with the Emirates Corporate Communications, Marketing & Brand team to identify charitable entities, schools, orphanages, and foundations across Africa and Asia, where the bags are set to be distributed in the coming months.

The world’s largest-ever known retrofit project is a multibillion-dollar investment from Emirates, which kicked off in August 2022 with the intention of fully re-fitting 191 aircraft and elevating customer experience. This includes 110 Airbus A380s and 81 Boeing 777 aircraft, which together have the potential to provide up to 50,000 kilograms of waste fabrics. As and when the aircraft is furnished with new fabrics, there is also scope to recover the excess ‘cut off’ materials for repurposing and upcycling.

From the 22 Airbus A380 aircraft that have been completely retrofitted, materials from First and Business Class cabins such as leather, aluminium, and wool have already been repurposed. The Aircrafted by Emirates range is a limited-edition capsule collection of luggage launched in November 2023 and designed in-house by Emirates Engineering, which sold out in weeks. Proceeds from the first sale of the not-for-profit collection Aircrafted by Emirates amounted to more than 70,000 AED, and after minimal operational cost deductions, were donated to Emirates Airline Foundation supporting humanitarian projects around the world.

Managed entirely by Emirates’ Engineering team, the retrofit is a considerable project that will take years to complete and provide multiple opportunities for upcycling. This will see 21,814 economy seats installed, 8,104 brand new premium economy seats installed, 1,894 first-class suites refurbished, over 11,182 new generation business class seats installed, as well as the opportunity for more creative upcycling initiatives to be launched.

For more information on flights or to book, visit www.emirates.com.

DUBAI, UAE, 12 June 2024: This Hajj season, Emirates has geared up to serve the large volume of pilgrims from the airline’s global network through Dubai to Jeddah and Medina to perform the once-in-a-lifetime Muslim pilgrimage. Emirates has been working hard throughout every travel touchpoint of the journey to ensure a comfortable experience, both in the air and on the ground, for pilgrims heading to Makkah for this significant trip.  

Additional flights to Jeddah and Medina

Emirates scheduled 10 additional flights between 7 and 10 June and will deploy again on 21 June and 26 June to carry pilgrims to Jeddah and Medina. These flights have been carefully timed to meet the flight schedules from key markets for Hajj, including Indonesia, Thailand, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritius, South Africa, Senegal and Pakistan.

The additional flights are operated alongside Emirates’ scheduled services to the two Saudi gateways and provide increased choices and options for thousands of travellers from across the airline’s global network to carry out one of the key pillars of Islam. The airline has further deployed 19 flights to cities including Amman, Dammam, Kuwait, and Beirut to meet high demand during Eid Al-Adha in mid-June. 

Seamless airport journey throughout

From arriving at Dubai International to stopping in the city and connecting onwards to Jeddah and Medina, Emirates has extended its onboard hospitality to the ground through a carefully planned airport experience.

Emirates’ dedicated teams will guide pilgrims during their airport journey to ensure a seamless connecting process to their onward flights. Airport Service teams have been tasked with meeting, greeting and escorting all pilgrims from arrival to departure. Travellers are welcomed at the arrival gate by dedicated Emirates Airport Service personnel, holding signs with special greetings for pilgrims, where they are escorted to the connection desk for their onward journey or to the Emirates Hotel Desk to pick up their hotel vouchers so they can quickly be transferred on Emirates’ buses to their hotels for a short break before they proceed to their final destination. The airline had dedicated three Economy Class and 15 to 20 Premium Class check-in counters for Hajj travellers. Pilgrims’ luggage will also be tagged with special Emirates ‘Hajj’ baggage tags. Special gifts were distributed on the official UAE Hajj flight from Dubai on 11 June.

A Hajj-centric onboard experience

Onboard, the airline has made extra provisions to accommodate those performing ablutions and provides unperfumed towels and additional blankets. Special PAs advise passengers when they have entered Al Miqat zones (state of sanctity) and indicate the changing of Ihram robes. Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice, features a special video that covers the Hajj formalities and also contains information about safety during Hajj as well as all essential information about performing the pilgrimage. Travellers may also choose to listen to the Holy Quran channel or read verses on ice so they can continue their introspection and worship. Upon return, passengers may check-in up to 5 litres of holy water (Zamzam), which will be placed in special areas in the cargo hold.

Pilgrims travelling on Emirates’ special flights are encouraged to explore the full Hajj experience – from airport to onboard – on the Emirates website. Special flights are available for travellers holding a valid Hajj visa. Pilgrims must also be under the age of 65 and hold a valid vaccination certificate with a vaccine authorised by the Saudi Ministry of Health. In partnership with Dubai International and numerous stakeholders across the Dubai travel ecosystem, Emirates has put in tremendous effort to ensure a seamless experience for Hajj travellers.