DUBAI, 20 March 2024: Solidifying Dubai’s place as a major maritime tourism hub, Emirates and AIDA Cruises have renewed their partnership for two more seasons.
It’s part of a project to significantly grow Dubai’s cruise capacity and offer a seamlessly integrated maritime hub with state-of-the-art handling facilities supported by unrivalled air connectivity.
Emirates will explore several opportunities with AIDA Cruises for joint marketing, operational alignment, and strategic planning around flight schedules across its network, in addition to enhanced transportation solutions between Dubai International Airport and Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal.
The partnership will continue to focus on sharing relevant data and insights to improve service delivery, providing dedicated support teams for cruise passengers, and facilitating a smooth check-in process at Dubai Harbour Cruise Terminal. The airline will also dedicate capacity for the next two seasons to ensure continued momentum to meet the demand for cruise packages to Dubai.
Emirates Airline deputy president and chief commercial officer Adnan Kazim and AIDA Cruises president Felix Eichhorn signed the partnership extension earlier this month.
AIDAprima has been operating cruises to Dubai since 2021 and can accommodate up to 3,200 passengers.
Dubai has been a first mover in joining up the entire travel and tourism ecosystem to facilitate hassle-free entry and visas for cruise passengers, seamless handling at ports, which includes access to Emirates check-in desks at Dubai Harbour along with a host of other amenities dotted across the entire air and ground journey. Travellers have the advantage of disembarking at one of the world’s most iconic tourism destinations, with landmarks and attractions that suit every taste, age and budget.
The 12 Emirates check-in counters in Dubai Harbour allow passengers who are disembarking from their cruise ships to fully check-in up to 4 hours before flight departure with the convenience of exploring Dubai without their luggage before heading directly to the airport and breezing past most formalities before their flight.
Last year, Emirates transported around 400,000 cruise passengers using Dubai cruise terminals. The city welcomed over 166 ships during the last cruise season, making it the region’s biggest port of embarkation and most popular call for cruise liners. The city expects an increase of 23% more cruise passengers for the upcoming season.
For flight information and bookings, visit www.emirates.com.
