Emirates maps future airport experience with key partners

The airline’s “Together” initiative focuses on innovative yet practical solutions to improve traveller experience at its Dubai (DXB) hub

Collaborative approach with Dubai Customs, Dubai General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), Dubai Police, and Dubai Airports, to pave way for implementation ease and speed

Emirates has launched its “Together” initiative in collaboration with key partners: Dubai Customs, Dubai General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA), Dubai Police, and Dubai Airports.

The initiative aims to improve traveller experience at the airline’s Dubai International airport hub, focussing on innovative and practical solutions that will be based on the “6s” – Smart, Speed, Saving, Service, Safety, Security. The first two meetings, held at Emirates Headquarters, have successfully concluded, where representatives from each partner organisation reviewed field data on travellers’ key touch points and evaluated a suite of recommendations for implementation in the short and medium term. Matters discussed ranged from simplifying passenger check-in processes, simplifying baggage drop-off and tracking, to using advanced technology throughout the passenger journey within the terminal.

Using a collaborative and action-oriented approach, the team comprising of senior representatives from each partner organisation will now conduct a series of workshops to agree priorities and a working plan, geared towards incremental implementation in four-week sprints. In parallel, the working group will also look at goal posts further into the future, in line with Dubai’s 10X programme to generate innovations that will put the city 10 years ahead of other global cities.

Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer said: “Last year, over 57 million passengers flew on Emirates, to Dubai or through Dubai, and that number continues to grow. To us, the hub experience and sustaining our growth is very important. Making use of technology and bringing new initiatives to life is key to building our future and staying ahead of competition. By working together we have a great opportunity to fast-track these initiatives and overcome challenges to improve the Emirates customer journey at our Dubai hub. We are fortunate and thankful to have very supportive partners who are fully engaged with us on this mission, and share the same vision to ensure the Dubai experience remains leading-edge and world-class. We look forward to working closely with them on the agreed initiatives.”

Major General Mohammed Ahmed Almarri, Dubai General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) said: “Our team at the airport is often the first experience that a visitor would have with brand Dubai. Being on the customer frontline, we actively seek ways to improve on our operations and service delivery. For us, the potential impact on customers, and speed of implementation and the warm welcome are our key considerations when we evaluate new solutions for implementation.”

Major General Ahmed Bin Thani Assistant General Commander of Ports Affairs Dubai Police said: “In the airport environment, we always have to balance traveller experience with operational and security priorities. It is in everyone’s interest to continuously evolve our processes by using technologies or innovative solutions, so that we can deliver on a better experience, while improving the efficiency of our operations.”

Ibrahim Ali AlKamali, Dubai Customs Passenger Operation said: “The airport ecosystem is closely interlinked, that is why a holistic approach to looking at the customer journey is needed. The Together initiative builds on the excellent working relationship that Dubai Customs already has with Emirates and our other airport partners. We look forward to working with them on collaborative solutions to make the Dubai airport experience even more outstanding for travellers, and more efficient and effective for our own operations as well.”