Emirates Launches Insurance Program for Travelers — FT
Emirates has decided to offer passengers insurance coverage to boost demand for flights to and through Dubai. This move is intended to increase travelers’ confidence in the safety of their trips.
The initiative comes as authorities in several countries continue to advise their citizens to refrain from traveling to the region or to exercise extreme caution while traveling.
It will offer to transport people home, if necessary, using other airlines—to allay fears that travelers will be stranded if the conflict resumes, the airline’s president, Tim Clark, said in an interview.
Emirates has abandoned its previous profit targets and will be satisfied if it can break even for the fiscal year should the war continue, he added. Last week, the airline posted a small profit after restoring about 80 percent of the services it provided before the conflict.
Clark also predicted that the crisis, which has caused jet fuel prices to double, would lead to a “complete rethinking” of the global oil distribution market.
He also noted that the airline remains committed to its fleet of four-engine A380 aircraft, even if fuel prices remain high. The planes remain “a huge source of cash flow and profit,” Clark said.
"The most important thing for the airline is that it meets the emirate’s needs, and secondly, that we can maintain a positive cash flow."
About 40,000 people pass through Dubai Airport every day. That figure has dropped from about 100,000 before the conflict began, but it is “growing rapidly,” Clark noted.
Clark noted that the airline is working with insurance companies to launch its own product at a “reasonable price” to guarantee: “We will get you home, whether it’s an Emirates flight or not.”
This was reported by the Financial Times.
The EU avoidedan aviation fuel shortage after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — Reuters.
KLM has extended flight cancellations to Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
Also, Israeli airline El Al is launching a limited flight schedule due to
