On January 21st, Emirates operated a flight with a fully vaccinated frontline team and crew. The flight in question was EK215 and at 8.30am it departed from Dubai bound for Los Angeles with the support of over 70 fully vaccinated staff members. They were employees at check-in, security, business and first class lounge and boarding gate, as well as engineers, pilots and cabin crew. The cargo and logistics team at SkyCargo, and the loading and special handling team working on EK215 had also been vaccinated.
Emirates Group rolled out its vaccination program in January for its UAE-based workforce in coordination with the Dubai Health Authority and the Ministry of Health and Prevention. Since then, roughly 25,000 individuals, or 44% of the group’s aviation workforce, have received both doses the vaccine.
With the rapid progress of our own vaccination program and high rates of take-up, more of our flights will soon be operating with fully vaccinated frontline employees
Adel Al Redha, chief operating officer at Emirates Airlines.
Thousands of employees in other roles within the airline group have taken the vaccine through the company’s clinics and vaccination centres. Some have opted to take the vaccine at one of the many vaccination centres across the UAE. All these measures have been taken in addition to the efforts the airline has already deployed to offer a contact-less experience throughout their journeys.
Adel Al Redha is confident that with more people being vaccinated, combined with the sustained safety measures, the airline can look forward to the easing of travel restrictions.
The United Arab Emirates has one of the world’s highest rate of vaccinations for its citizens and residents. Over 5.4 million doses of the vaccine have so far been administered. A research website based at Oxford University called Our World In Data shows that the country ranks second in the vaccine distribution rate, with 55.27 doses per 100 people.
