Safety above all, always: Emirates operates first flight serviced by fully vaccinated frontline teams across all
customer touchpoints
EK215 to Los Angeles supported by over 70 vaccinated frontline team members across the operational spectrum
Close to 26,000 of Emirates Group's frontline aviation workforce already vaccinated with two doses
DUBAI, UAE 21 February 2021: Honouring its commitment to the health and safety of its employees and customers, Emirates today has become among the
first airlines in the world to operate a flight with fully vaccinated frontline teams servicing customers at every
touchpoint of the travel journey.
This morning, the full airport and onboard customer experience for flight EK215, which departed Dubai at 0830hrs for Los
Angeles, was safely supported by check-in, security, Business and First Class lounge and boarding gate employees, as
well as engineers, pilots and cabin crew who made the choice to be fully vaccinated.
Also supporting the flight's operations were fully vaccinated aircraft appearance, loading and special handling teams
from dnata, as well as Emirates SkyCargo teams working on the cargo and logistics requirements for EK215.
The Emirates Group rolled out its vaccination drive at pace just over a month ago, and since then, close to 26,000, or 44%, of the Group's UAE frontline aviation workforce
have received both doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Sinopharm vaccines.
Adel Al Redha, Chief Operating Officer, Emirates Airline said: "Our operational workforce are at the aviation frontline, helping people get to where they need to be, and moving
essential goods to global communities. Protecting our people with vaccinations is important – for them, for our
community, for the smooth running of our operations, and also for our customers as it introduces of an additional layer
of protection when they travel with us. We've seen a very positive response with high demand and take-up of the Covid-19
vaccine from our colleagues at the operational frontline, and there's continued momentum in the rate of vaccinations
across the business. We would like to thank the UAE's leadership for making three types of vaccines available in the
country, and for their proactive commitment to championing an extensive National Vaccination Programme."
Nearly 5,000 Cabin and Flight Deck Crew have opted to receive both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. In addition, thousands
more Emirates Group employees in other roles have taken their COVID-19 vaccine through the company's clinics and
vaccination centres, while others have opted to take their vaccine at one of the many vaccination centres across the
UAE.
Al Redha added: "At the outset of the pandemic, Emirates implemented robust safety measures to protect and prioritise the safety of
our customers and employees at all stages of the travel journey, and with the rapid progress of our own vaccination
programme and high rates of take-up, more of our flights will soon be operating with fully vaccinated frontline
employees. We are also confident that with more people being vaccinated, combined with strong safety measures in place,
we can all look forward to the easing of border entry guidelines for many countries."
The Emirates Group vaccination programme is the latest in its series of safeguards and protections to deliver on its
health and safety promises to its customers, employees and the communities it serves around the world. The Group's
vaccination centres have been running 12 hours a day, every day of the week to prioritise and provide aviation
frontliners with the vaccine.
The UAE currently has one of the world's highest rate of vaccinations for its citizens and residents as it fights to
curb the spread of Covid-19. So far, the UAE has administered over 5.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, and Our World In Data, a research website based at Oxford University, recently reported that the country's distribution rate stands at 55.27
doses per 100 people, ranking it the second highest in the world.