Market News

BY  Joseph Olaoluwa

Emirates Airlines has operated its first flight with fully vaccinated frontline teams servicing customers at every touchpoint of the travel journey.

The EK215 was operated on Sunday. It departed Dubai at 8.30am for Los Angeles and was safely supported by check-in, security, pilots and cabin crew who made the choice to be fully vaccinated.

Also supporting the flight’s operations were special handling teams from dnata as well as SkyCargo teams working on the cargo and logistics requirements for EK215, according to the statement by the airline titled ‘Emirates’ first flight by fully vaccinated frontline teams’.

Chief Operating Officer, Emirates Airlines, Adel Al Redha, said, “Our operational workforce is at the aviation frontline, helping people get to where they need to be, and moving essential goods to global communities.

“Protecting our people with vaccinations is important – for them, for our community, for the smooth running of our operations, and also for our customers as it introduces an additional layer of protection when they travel with us.

“We have seen a very positive response with high demand and take-up of the COVID-19 vaccine from our colleagues at the operational frontline, and there is continued momentum in the rate of vaccinations across the business.

“We would like to thank the United Arab Emirates’ leadership for making three types of vaccines available in the country, and for their proactive commitment to championing an extensive National Vaccination Programme.”

According to the statement received on Tuesday, nearly 5,000 cabin and flight deck crew have opted to receive both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

It added that more Emirates Group employees in other roles have taken their COVID-19 vaccine through the company’s clinics and vaccination centres, while others have opted to take their vaccine at one of the many vaccination centres across the UAE.

The COO in the statement noted that more of the airline flights would be operating fully vaccinated frontline employees, combined with strong safety measures in place, as the carrier looked forward to the easing of border entry guidelines for many countries.