Emirates has outlined a range of services for passengers during the Holy Month of Ramadan, including iftar meal boxes, prayer mats, special lounge menus and religious entertainment content.
The airline said the initiative will support fasting customers both onboard and at boarding gates across its network.
Complimentary iftar boxes will be distributed at select Emirates boarding gates at iftar time. The boxes include water, laban, a banana and dates to help passengers break their fast before departure.
Ramadan meals onboard
Passengers breaking their fast inflight across all cabin classes on select destinations will receive specially prepared Ramadan meal boxes. These include dates, Arabic bread with hummus, moutabel or muhammara, a chicken mossakan or herbed chicken sandwich, chocolate almonds, baklawa or mamoul, and laban. The Ramadan boxes will be served in addition to the regular hot meal service.
To ensure accurate fasting times, Emirates uses a tool that calculates imsak and iftar based on the aircraft’s longitude, latitude and altitude, aligned with sunrise and sunset times. The captain will announce the official iftar time once the sun sets.
Prayer mats are also available onboard upon request.
Lounge dining options
At the seven Emirates lounges in Dubai International Airport (DXB), guests will be offered Arabic sweets, dates and coffee during Ramadan. First and Business Class lounges will serve traditional dishes including Arabic mezze, lentil soup, mixed grill, lamb kabsa, chicken machboos and lamb ouzi, along with desserts such as kunafa, basbousa and baklawa ice cream.
Emirates lounges in Cairo and Jeddah will also offer Ramadan dishes. All lounges include dedicated prayer rooms and ablution facilities.
During Ramadan, Emirates’ inflight entertainment system, ice, will feature religious programmes including Kheir Qodwa, Qalb Al Mo’men, Wa Yatoub Allah Alaykom, Al Huqooq Al Sharaeya and Nafhat in Arabic, and Ramadan Mah e Rehmat and Hoshyarian in Urdu. The Holy Qur’an will also be available.
Passengers will also have access to more than 6,500 on-demand channels, including around 450 Arabic movies and TV channels and 400 Arabic music and podcast channels.
For Umrah groups travelling to Jeddah and Medina during Ramadan, Emirates will serve Ramadan meal boxes onboard. Passengers are also permitted to check in one bottle of Zamzam water of up to five litres per person at Dubai International Airport and selected airports in Saudi Arabia.
The airline said it provides Ramadan awareness training for cabin crew and ground staff in Dubai and across its network. The training focuses on cultural understanding and operational readiness during the Holy Month.
tanvir@dubainewsweek.com
