Emirates is now offering its Comprehensive Travel Cover, which includes medical cover for conflict-related incidents, backed by hotel accommodation and extended-stay support across a range of disruption scenarios.

“When itineraries include connecting on other airlines or Emirates services are unavailable, Emirates will also rebook disrupted customers to their destination at no additional cost, including where flights have been cancelled due to conflict-related disruption,” a statement from the airline reads.

The coverage also includes trip cancellation cover, compensation for baggage delay or loss, unlimited medical expense and emergency evacuation cover worldwide, among other benefits.

“Newly added conflict cover provides reimbursement for medical expenses of up to $25,000 and a free trip extension of up to 30 days. The cover is not restricted by government travel advice,” the statement adds.

The Emirates Comprehensive Travel Cover is available from June 17. It can be purchased on the airline’s website when booking a flight or added to existing bookings through the Manage Booking tab online.

Etihad announced on Friday that it is partnering with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi to provide free medical travel insurance. This will be offered with insurer Daman to all international visitors arriving in Abu Dhabi on Etihad-operated flights.

In a statement, Antonoaldo Neves, Etihad Airways chief executive, said: “Abu Dhabi is one of the most captivating destinations in the world, and our job is to make both getting here and being here as seamless as possible.

“Giving comprehensive medical insurance with every eligible Etihad ticket means our guests can focus entirely on experiencing the extraordinary Emirati hospitality Abu Dhabi has to offer. This is what it looks like when an airline and a destination truly invest in their visitors.”

The insurance offered by Etihad will be valid from July to December.

It will cover eligible visitors for up to 15 days in the UAE and no formal application is required. Instead, coverage is automatically given with every qualifying Etihad ticket.

Any guest flying to Abu Dhabi on an Etihad-operated service, with point of origin and point of sale outside the UAE, is eligible. This will also include travellers using Etihad’s complimentary stopover programme, who will be covered for the duration of their stay.

Last week, Emirates president Tim Clark told Reuters that the company was planning to offer “incentives other than price”.

“That could be a new means of ensuring their safety of operation, ​for instance,” Clark said. “We’ll take care of all of that, including flying them on other carriers, if necessary, ​to bring them home or get the kids into school.”

In an interview with the Financial Times, Clark elaborated on the plans to help stranded passengers, saying the airline would guarantee “we would get you back irrespective [of whether it is] on Emirates or not”.

Air travel in the Gulf is ramping up amid a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran. The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority announced the full resumption of air traffic operations in the country on May 2.

On June 9, Emirates and Etihad operated 435 and 247 flights, respectively, compared to 531 and 334 flights operated on February 27, the day before the war broke out.

Credits: Etihad Airlines

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Dubai: Emirates has completed the retrofit of its first two-class Airbus A380, marking a new phase in the Dubai airline’s multi-billion-dollar fleet upgrade programme and bringing Premium Economy seating to a part of its fleet that previously did not offer the cabin class.

A two-class aircraft is a jet configured with exactly two distinct levels of passenger service – mostly Economy and Business class. The refurbished aircraft, registered A6-EUX, has entered service on Emirates’ Dubai-Birmingham route as EK39/40, with a new three-class configuration that includes 76 Business Class seats, 56 Premium Economy seats and 437 Economy Class seats.

Emirates says this is the first time it has reconfigured one of its two-class A380 aircraft to add Premium Economy seating on the upper deck, giving passengers on these aircraft access to a cabin product that has been gradually rolled out across parts of the airline’s fleet in recent years.

This is the first of 15 two-class A380 aircraft that Emirates plans to retrofit by the end of 2026 as part of its wider cabin refurbishment programme.

Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, said the reconfiguration of the two-class A380 into a three-class layout “brings our popular Premium Economy seating onto the upper deck” and demonstrates the scale of the retrofit work.

Emirates’ $5 billion-dollar upgrade programme, launched in 2021-22, aims to extend the service life of its flagship Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s amid aircraft delivery delays. As of May 2026, the world’s largest international airline maintains a firm order book backlog of 367 next generation widebody aircraft, with deliveries scheduled to extend through 2038.

What has changed on board?

As part of the upgrade, Emirates removed 120 Economy Class seats from the upper deck to make room for 56 Premium Economy seats and 18 additional Business Class seats.

The Premium Economy cabin is arranged in a 2-3-2 layout and includes wider leather seats with leg and footrests, adjustable headrests, charging ports, side tables and a 13.3-inch entertainment screen.

The aircraft also received refreshed interiors across all cabins, including updated seating, carpets, ceiling panels and new cabin finishings.

Complex engineering work in Dubai

Emirates said the retrofit required extensive structural modifications, including changes to galley modules, storage areas, overhead bins, partitions, as well as electrical and plumbing systems. Sir Clark said the reconfiguration of Emirates’ two-class A380 into three-class layout “illustrates the extensive capabilities of our team.”

He added. “Our engineering team has been working continuously and at pace in close collaboration with an ecosystem of partners and suppliers to meticulously refresh and integrate the best-in-class products to each aircraft in the programme.”

He said, “Our retrofit programme has raised the bar at every step, in terms of complexity, scale and detailed craftsmanship.

The first aircraft retrofit took around two months, involving 50 engineers and technicians, who spent about 35,000 man-hours and used more than 2,500 types of parts.

Future retrofits are expected to take around 30 days, as Emirates applies lessons from the first project.

Wider Emirates fleet overhaul

The airline’s retrofit programme, first announced in 2021, has grown significantly in scale.

So far, Emirates has completed work on 95 aircraft, including 42 Airbus A380s and 53 Boeing 777s, representing more than one-third of its fleet.

Originally covering 120 aircraft, the programme was later expanded to 219 aircraft, making it one of the largest cabin refurbishment projects undertaken by the airline.

Emirates said an average of two aircraft a month are emerging from its engineering hangars in Dubai as the programme continues.

Credits: Emirates

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