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Emirates has announced the reopening of one of its lounges in Dubai and has confirmed that its Chauffeur Drive service is once again being offered to customers with select premium bookings. In addition, the airline has continued to restart routes to countries around the world and will offer services to over 50 cities in July.
Emirates Premium Flyer Benefits Restarting
Chauffeur Services
From 1 July (tomorrow), Emirates will once again offer its Chauffeur Drive service for First and Business Class passengers in Dubai and in other worldwide cities that the airline currently serves. The cars will be cleaned and disinfected inside and out at the end of each shift (not each journey) and the drivers in Dubai will wear masks and gloves and will have to pass what the airline describes as “stringent checks” before they’re allowed to work.
The “high touch” points of the cars such as door handles and the handles of each customer’s luggage will be sanitized at the end of each trip and the airline will continue to make child car seats available on request (these are disinfected and then shrink-wrapped after each use). Most cars will be limited to just 3 customers and all passengers in Dubai will have to wear masks. Larger vehicles, which can accommodate 4 passengers, will be available on request.
Airport Lounges
Emirates has announced that it will reopen one of its lounges in Terminal 3 Concourse B at Dubai International Airport from 1 July 2020. The lounge will open its doors at 10:00 am and will serve First Class, Business Class, and eligible Emirates Skywards members.
Per Emirates:
“The 9,209 square metre space in DXB will offer Emirates’ premium customers a quiet haven to relax and recharge prior to their flights, operating with a reduced seating capacity and increased space between each occupied seat to aid social distancing. Masks are mandatory in the lounge, as in the airport.”
Guests will enter the lounge through biometric gates using facial recognition to reduce the number of touch points and the lounge’s facilities and amenities have been modified to balance customer comforts along with the “highest health and safety standards” with every attempt being made to reduce contact where possible. The food on offer in the lounge will now be presented in hygienically sealed meal boxes (rather than as a buffet) and complimentary beverages, including spirits, will be offered in single-serve bottles. Wine and champagne, served from shared bottles, will be temporarily unavailable.
In further concessions to health and safety: All lounge employees will wear personal protective equipment for their own protection as well as the protection of customers, lounge workers will sanitize each seat and table after each customer leaves and the lounge will be sanitized and fumigated at the end of each day.
While this is the only Emirates lounge set to open on 1 July, the airline has said that it will be looking to open more of its worldwide lounge network in the coming weeks.
Emirates Restarts More Routes
Over the weekend, Emirates announced that it will be restarting flights to seven destinations across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia from July…
- Amman (from 05 July)
- Athens (from 15 July)
- Khartoum (from 03 July)
- Larnaca (from 15 July)
- Narita (from 08 July)
- Osaka (from 07 July)
- Rome (15 July)
…and, earlier today, the airline added a further 4 more destinations to its July schedule:
- Cairo (from 1 July)
- Glasgow (from 15 July)
- Malé (from 16 July)
- Tunis (from 1 July)
As things stand, most Emirates customers can only use Dubai as a transit point and cannot terminate their travel in the Emirate but that is set to change next month. From 7 July, Dubai will reopen to business and leisure visitors with new air travel protocols that “facilitate travel for UAE citizens, residents and tourists while safeguarding the health and safety of visitors and communities“.
Bottom Line
As of tomorrow, 1 July, Emirates will once again start to offer a chauffeur service at various locations around the world and it will reopen a lounge at Dubai International Airport. As things stand, Emitares is to offer services to/from 52 destinations in July but this number could change as conditions change around the world.
