Reflecting the spirit of togetherness and generosity during the Holy Month of Ramadan, Emirates will be serving thousands of meal boxes for fasting customers 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), an array of Arabic sweets, dates and coffee will be offered during Ramadan. Traditional dishes available in First and Business Class lounges will include a selection of hot and cold Arabic mezze, lentil soup, Arabic mixed grill with tahina, lamb mandi served with dakous and coriander mint raita, chicken machboos served with cucumber yoghurt sauce and desserts of pistachio kunafa, halawet al jibn, esh bulbul with lotus, basboussa ashta, cheese kunafa, walnut kathayef, chocolate baklava, homemade Arabic coffee and dates ice cream or baklawa ice cream, a host of traditional Arabic sweets and pastries, and classic drinks of jallab and laban. Emirates Lounges in Cairo and Jeddah will also serve an array of delicious Ramadan dishes.
Emirates lounges have dedicated prayer rooms and ablution facilities to ensure a peaceful environment for worship.
Emirates Iftar boxes at Boarding Gates
For the comfort of 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 are distributed.
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 month of Ramadan, 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 geometric design that features in traditional Islamic art. The meal boxes will include light bites of hummus or moutabel with Arabic bread, sweet treats of almond chocolate, walnut baklawa, apricot ball and traditional dates, alongside a chicken zaatar and mozzarella cheese wrap or lamb shawarma and halloumi cheese wrap, washed down with some laban to help customers break their fast. Emirates’ Ramadan boxes are 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 Hadi Al Nabi, Kalimat Fi Hob Al Rasool, Kheir Qodwa, Maqased Su’ar Al Qur’an and Nafhat in Arabic. In Urdu, ice will feature Ramadan Ki Fazilat and Ramadan Bakhshish Ka Saman. The Holy Qur’an is also available on ice.
Popular series and dramas will be available such as Sadaf, Dawaay Al Safar and Al Uqda as well as Hikmat Wehbi Podcast. Amongst more than 6500 channels of on demand entertainment on ice are up to 450 channels of movies and TV in Arabic, as well as 400 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 experience.
