Dubai, UAE, 8 Mar 2024: Reflecting the spirit of togetherness and generosity during the Holy Month of Ramadan, Emirates will be serving thousands of meal boxes for fasting passengers both onboard and at boarding gates, screening an array of religious content and popular TV shows on ice, and offering traditional Ramadan dishes in the lounges.
Ramadan refreshments in the lounges
At the Emirates lounges in Dubai International Airport (DXB), traditional Arabic sweets, dates and coffee will be offered during Ramadan. Meals available in First and Business Class lounges will include a selection of hot and cold Arabic mezze, lentil soup, main courses of Arabic mixed grill with tahina, chicken kabsa served with dakous and raita, and desserts of kunafa pistachio cream, basboussa saffron, walnut kathayef ashta and ice cream flavours of Arabic coffee and dates or baklawa, alongside a host of traditional Arabic sweets and pastries. Emirates lounges are also equipped with dedicated prayer rooms and ablution facilities to ensure a peaceful environment for worship.
Emirates Iftar boxes at Boarding Gates
For fasting customers at select Emirates Boarding Gates during iftar time, complimentary iftar boxes to help break the fast – containing water, laban, a banana, and dates.
Captain announcements of Iftar time
To ensure the highest levels of accuracy for fasting Muslim passengers, Emirates uses a unique tool to calculate the correct timings for imsak (the time to commence fasting) and iftar while in-flight, based on the times of the sunrise and sunset of the location the flight is passing by using the aircraft’s longitude, latitude, and altitude. When the sun sets, passengers will be officially informed of the iftar time by the captain.
Emirates Ramadan Meal Boxes onboard
From the 11 March, customers breaking their fast across all cabin classes to select destinations will be offered nutritionally balanced Ramadan meal boxes. Iftar meals will be served in bespoke boxes, designed by Emirates to represent the rich Emirati heritage of the Al Sadu weavers. This traditional community weaving practised by Bedouin women of the UAE who handmade accessories in distinctive geometric patterns, reflects the community aspect of the Holy Month.
The Ramadan meal boxes will include light bites from hummus with spinach and Arabic bread, to tabbouleh with baba ghanoush, alongside sandwiches of Moroccan or zaatar chicken with pickled garlic mayonnaise, and some sweet treats of almond chocolate or Arabic baklawa, cashew nut and pine seed baklawa flowers, as well as staples like traditional dates and refreshing laban. Emirates’ Ramadan boxes will be served in addition to the regular hot meal service.
Supporting Emirates customers on Umrah
Ramadan boxes will be served on flights catering to Umrah groups travelling to Jeddah and Medina during the month of Ramadan. Passengers are also entitled to check in one bottle of Islamic holy water ‘ZAMZAM’ containing up to 5 litres per person at Dubai International Airport (DXB) and various airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Ramadan content and popular series on ice
For the duration of the Holy Month, Emirates ice will feature special religious content including Rehlet Hayat, Qawafel Al Samaa, Hom Al Omr, Fatawa and Al Ayyam Al Khaliya in Arabic. In Urdu, ice will feature Ramadan Mah e Rehmat, Niyamat-E-Ramadan, Mahe Ramadan as well as Ramzan Mehfil-E-Zikr in Hindi. The Holy Qur’an is also available on ice.
Popular series and dramas will be available such as Seeb Wa Ana Aseeb, Safah Al Giza and El Ghareeb as well as AB Talks, the classic Darb el Zalag, and popular Turkish series dubbed in Arabic such as Ehtiram, Behzat and Al Hob Al Ghayr Muktam. Amongst more than 6500 channels of on demand entertainment on ice are 550+ channels of Arabic movies and TV, as well as 450 channels of Arabic music and podcasts.
Ramadan Awareness Training for Emirates staff
Emirates provides Ramadan awareness training for its cabin crew and on ground teams in Dubai and across its network. Special training resources have been provided to ensure operational teams are aware of the Holy Month, understand the cultural significance and nuances of this time and recognise specific practices that Muslims engage in, so they are prepared to provide the highest levels of service to customers throughout their travel journey.