When you think luxury air travel, one of the main brands that come to mind is Emirates. From amazing experiences to a global standard for quality when it comes to airlines and an in-flight experience.
So, as travellers start to return to the sky, the way we travel has changed. But how has travel evolved over the last 12 months or so?
We spoke to Rashid Al Ardha, Country Manager for Singapore & Brunei with Emirates to find out how things are changing for them.
For example, in response to increasing customer demand, Emirates is launching their new Premium Economy Class experience on popular A380 routes in London, Paris and Sydney from December 2022. This is providing travellers with more choice, as well as broadening the appeal for different segments of holidaymakers.
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This is also translating into the dining options. To meet the increasing demand for vegan meals, Emirates started offering vegan options as a standard part of the inflight menu from July for outbound flights from Singapore. From mid-August, the same will be provided for flights inbound to Singapore. Prior to this, vegan meals are provided upon request before departure.
As we continue to see travel pick up, could you share some of the changes you are seeing amongst travellers?
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about changes in travellers’ preferences, especially in the area of sustainability. The pandemic has heightened people’s awareness about their impact on the environment and local communities, and this has spurred travellers’ desire to reduce their carbon footprint and travel more sustainably.
In addition, after two years of lockdowns and border closures, travellers are more willing to invest in experiences when they travel, as they seek value in “money can’t buy” experiences over material goods.
In terms of destination preferences, we have also seen travellers flying farther and taking longer trips, as a result of “revenge travel” and the pent-up desire for vacations after two years of travel restrictions. There is a greater sense of urgency to escape from familiar sights and surroundings and more people are travelling to seek new perspectives and novel experiences.
What are some of the changes Emirates has had to make to keep up with evolving consumer behaviour?
As the largest international airline in the world, we aim to provide the best possible travel experience for all our passengers. With the easing of travel restrictions around the world, we have ramped up our operations across our entire network, resuming flights to destinations previously suspended due to the pandemic and adding additional frequencies in response to the increase in travel demand.
We have since restored 90% of our network and 70% of our pre-pandemic capacity. 75 of our A380s have also returned to service and are flying to 33 destinations worldwide.
Emirates is known for offering customer-centric, future-forward inflight experiences and we are committed to allowing our passengers to experience the distinct Emirates experience whenever they fly with us. Thus, from December 2022, travellers can look forward to enjoying the highly sought-after full Emirates Premium Economy Class experience on popular A380 routes to London, Paris, and Sydney.
Furthermore, we have also refurbished a number of our Boeing 777 Business Class cabins and brought in wider seats, laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration. Overhead bins in the centre of the cabin have been removed for a more comfortable, and spacious feel on board. These are all part of our efforts to innovate to ensure that travellers have the best possible experience with us, especially as more are seeking comfort and quality when they fly.
Sustainability seems to be a strong focus for the brand, could you share a bit more about what Emirates is doing there?
As an airline, we have reaffirmed our commitment to sustainability with initiatives on board and on the ground. Our environmental strategy focuses on a few areas: reducing emissions, consuming responsibly, generating clean energy, and contributing to food security and sustainable production.
Reducing emissions: While we continue efforts to improve fuel efficiency and reduce fuel burn, we are also exploring viable alternatives for cleaner fuel. In 2020, Emirates operated flights powered by sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from Sweden and Norway where local programmes made it accessible, and we took delivery of our first A380 powered by SAF. Emirates also joined the World Economic Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow coalition, which supports a transition to SAF as part of a pathway towards carbon-neutral flying. In 2021, we signed an MoU with GE Aviation to develop a programme that will see an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, powered by GE90 engines, conduct a test flight using 100% SAF by the end of this year.
Responsible Consumption: An in-house team of sustainability experts provides their input from the early stages when it comes to inflight product and service development. Following the waste management hierarchy, plastic straws and stirrers were replaced with responsibly sourced paper and wooden alternatives. A customer favourite, Emirates’ cosy sustainable blankets in Economy Class are made from 28 recycled plastic bottles each. By the end of this year, Emirates will have saved 150 million single-use plastic items from landfill through these initiatives.
Clean Energy Generation: Amongst other initiatives, Emirates is investing in solar power systems to generate clean electricity at our major facilities in Dubai including the Emirates Engine Maintenance Centre and Emirates Flight Catering. These installations produce savings of over 4 million kilogrammes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Food Security and Sustainable Production: Emirates Flight Catering has recently opened Bustanica, the world’s largest hydroponic farm in Dubai. The facility is geared to produce 1,000,000 kilograms of high-quality leafy greens annually while requiring 95% less water than conventional agriculture. Passengers flying with Emirates will be able to enjoy these sustainable greens, including lettuces, arugula, mixed salad greens, and spinach, onboard flights.
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How do you foresee the travel industry changing in the next 12 months?
Demand for travel will continue to remain steady and we are optimistic about the recovery of the aviation industry. At Emirates, we expect the Group to return to profitability in 2022-23, and are working hard to hit our targets while keeping a close watch on headwinds.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) has been the latest buzzword in aviation and international travel, and sustainability will continue to remain central in industry discussions and operations. With the world becoming more interconnected and global emissions poised to grow further, calls to curb and eliminate aviation carbon emissions will become louder and more urgent.
The travel industry will likely also continue to boost recruitment over the next few months to support the ramp-up of operations globally in response to the surge in customer demand. For those who are seeking a career in aviation, Emirates, the world’s largest operator of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s, is looking to recruit young pilots who meet the airline’s exceptional standards in safety, technical prowess, and customer experience.
A future with Emirates means flying one of the world’s youngest and most modern fleets, now comprising 265 Airbus and Boeing aircraft. With continuous investments in renewing our fleet, our pilots will also be flying Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, Boeing 777-Xs, and Airbus A350-900s in the coming years.
We are also scouting the world to recruit more than 500 IT professionals to build our talent pipeline with expertise in various areas, including CyberSecurity and Technical Product Management.
What’s next for Emirates in the region?
There are lots for travellers in the region to look forward to! Earlier in June, we doubled our passenger services to Singapore from seven weekly flights to 14 weekly flights. To enhance connectivity and convenience for travellers, we will be further increasing the frequency between Singapore and Dubai with a third daily flight starting from 30 October 2022, making it even more convenient for travellers to access our global network of more than 130 destinations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the Americas.
Priding ourselves on the brand promise of ‘Fly Better’, Emirates is investing over US$2 billion to enhance our inflight customer experience, including a massive programme to retrofit over 120 aircraft with the latest interiors, plus an array of other service improvements across all cabins starting in 2022. These include elevated meal choices, a brand new vegan menu, a ‘cinema in the sky’ experience, cabin interior upgrades, sustainable choices and a generous approach to the little touches that make travel memorable.
To meet the increasing demand for vegan meals, Emirates started offering vegan options as a standard part of the inflight menu in July for outbound flights from Singapore. From mid-August, the same will be provided for flights inbound to Singapore. 10% of our First Class menu offering on flights to and from Singapore will also consist of vegan food options. Prior to this, vegan meals were provided upon request up to 24 hours before departure.
In addition, from August, First Class customers can also look forward to savouring unlimited portions of Persian caviar as part of the ‘dine on demand’ service, with an exquisite pairing of the world-renowned Dom Perignon vintage champagne. Emirates is the only airline with an exclusive agreement to offer the luxury brand on-board.
The most significant investment would be an extensive and record-breaking refurbishment of the aircraft fleet interiors, where cabins will be retrofitted with new or reupholstered seats, new panelling, flooring, and other cabin features. Benefitting all Emirates passengers, from November, every cabin class will be refreshed and new Premium Economy cabins installed. After the retrofit, Emirates will have a total of 120 aircraft offering Premium Economy seats and enhanced interiors and features across all other cabins.
