Emirates is investing over US$2 billion to upgrade its inflight customer experience including elevated meal choices, a new vegan menu, a ‘cinema in the sky’ experience, cabin interior upgrades and more sustainable options.
New menus will be served on select Emirates routes in First Class featuring dishes such as pan-fried salmon trout with moqueca sauce and creole rice, roasted duck breast with orange thyme jus, steamed broccolini and fondant potatoes. And new menus will be added in Business and Economy from the September 1.
The new vegan menu aims to cater to the growing numbers of customers favouring a plant-based meal and will include pan-roasted king oyster mushrooms, flavoursome jackfruit biryani and sliced kohlrabi, garnished with burnt orange. Dessert choices include chocolate truffle cake with hazelnut, pistachio and gold leaf, or green grape tart with candied rose petals, vanilla custard, and berry compote glistening with yuzu pearls.
InFirst Class customers will now be offered unlimited portions of Persian caviar as part of the ‘dine on demand’ service, paired with Dom Perignon vintage champagne (exclusive to Emirates). These passengers can also now order cinema snacks as they explore the 5,000 IFEC channels. The cinema snack menu includes lobster rolls, juicy sliders, edamame, and salted popcorn, and can be ordered on demand. All passengers can also curate their viewing experience before their flight, by pre-selecting movies or TV shows on the Emirates app, which can then be synced to the onboard system the moment they board.
Flights from Dubai will feature fresh greens harvested from Bustanica, the newly-opened vertical farm which is a US$40 million joint venture investment through Emirates Flight Catering too support sustainable sourcing.
Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, one of the world’s top hospitality management schools, is supporting onboard service delivery and cabin crew have already begun engaging in intensive training programmes focused on delivering the four service pillars: Excellence, Attentiveness, Innovation and Passion.
Emirates confirms there will be more announcements about new products and services in the near future.
Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline, said: “While others respond to industry pressures with cost cuts, Emirates is flying against the grain and investing to deliver ever better experiences to our customers. Through the pandemic we’ve continued to launch new services and initiatives to ensure our customers travel with the assurance and ease, including digital initiatives to improve customer experiences on the ground. Now we’re rolling out a series of intensive programmes to take Emirates’ signature inflight experiences to the next level.”
