Travellers with upcoming flights should expect their journey to look a little different than normal, with Emirates and Flydubai stepping up in-flight safety measures in a bid to protect passengers and crew.
All Emirates cabin crew, boarding agents and ground staff that work with travellers have now been issued with personal protective equipment (PPE) to be worn whenever they are on duty.
The kits include protective disposable gowns to be worn over standard Emirates’ uniforms, as well as gloves, masks and safety visors covering the eyes.
Travellers must also wear protective coverings: all passengers must wear face masks and gloves from check-in at Terminal 3 until they disembark their flight in their chosen destination.
Families can sit together
Travellers must also follow temporary rules that include sitting in pre-assigned seats. This is to allow Emirates to allocate empty seats between individual travellers to ensure social distancing in the air. Families who live together can still sit as a group, and this should be requested during the check-in process at Dubai International Airport.
Read more: A complete guide to repatriation flights out of the UAE – destinations, fares and dates
New checked baggage allowance
All cabin baggage other than laptops, handbags, briefcases and baby items must be checked in. Emirates is allowing passengers to add their cabin baggage allowance to their check-in allowance.
Emirates’ in-flight food and beverage services have also changed, and all meals are now being offered in the form of bento-style boxes. Designed to reduce contact between crew and passengers during flights, each box contains sandwiches, beverages, snacks and desserts. Travellers cannot order special meals at this time.
New procedures at Terminal 3
The airline has also implemented new procedures at Dubai International Airport. Gloves and masks are now mandatory at the airport, for both travellers and staff.
Thermal scanners have been installed to monitor the temperature of anyone coming into the airport. Social distancing is also in action with distance markers on the ground at waiting areas to help travellers gauge the correct distance to stand from others during check-in and boarding processes.
Check-in staff at Emirates now sit behind protective barriers installed at each desk.
Flydubai and Etihad crew don masks
Emirates is not the only UAE airline changing things when it comes to in-flight safety during the time of coronavirus.
Flydubai has also established new guidelines to ensure all cabin crew operating repatriation flights wear protective equipment.
“Our crew wear gloves and masks, and on-board standard pieces of equipment we carry include Universal Precaution Kits as alongside Emergency Medical Kits and First Aid Kits,” said a Flydubai spokesperson.
Etihad, the national airline of the UAE, recently released a video thanking employees working in the pandemic for their service. In the video, Etihad crew can be seen wearing face masks and gloves. The airline has also suspended online seat selection to "help us to follow social distancing guidelines as closely as possible, and make sure you stay safe while you travel with us," said the airline on its website.
Flights in and out of the UAE are temporarily suspended, but airlines are working to provide repatriation flights to bring Emiratis back to the country and take stranded travellers home. You can find out more about repatriation flights here.
Honeymoonish
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MATCH INFO
Championship play-offs, second legs:
Aston Villa 0
Middlesbrough 0
(Aston Villa advance 1-0 on aggregate)
Fulham 2
Sessegnon (47'), Odoi (66')
Derby County 0
(Fulham advance 2-1 on aggregate)
Final
Saturday, May 26, Wembley. Kick off 8pm (UAE)
Punchy appearance
Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Dunki
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
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Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Name: Salvador Toriano Jr
Age: 59
From: Laguna, The Philippines
Favourite dish: Seabass or Fish and Chips
Hobbies: When he’s not in the restaurant, he still likes to cook, along with walking and meeting up with friends.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
GAC GS8 Specs
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Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
