Milestone flight EK2021 highlights UAE’s impressive vaccination drive
Emirates’ one-of-a-kind flight EK2021 proudly made a journey across the different emirates today, to celebrate the UAE’s remarkable progress in vaccinating its citizens and residents from COVID-19 through a national vaccination programme that has administered close to 9 million vaccines doses to date.
The special flight, which carried fully vaccinated crew and passengers onboard, was unprecedented in the industry in scale. With close to 400 fully vaccinated customers onboard, the flight illustrates confidence and undiminished excitement for air travel.
EK2021 was also supported by fully vaccinated teams across the aviation eco-system, from onboard crew to ground staff, demonstrating the readiness of the UAE’s aviation eco-system to support the safe rebound of air travel.
In spite of the pandemic, the UAE has maintained its status as a leading global aviation hub and it will continue to grow its position as a hub for passengers and cargo traffic by investing in innovations and close collaborations with all stakeholders.
Onboard EK2021 was a group of senior officials from key aviation and health sector entities hosted by Emirates.
In parallel, the Emirates Group vaccination programme rolled out to its UAE-based workforce less than three months ago, and since then has delivered COVID-19 shots to over 35,000 Emirates employees across its vaccination centres.
Today’s flight was operated with Emirates’ newest A380 aircraft which featured the airline’s brand-new Premium Economy seats, and refreshed cabin interiors across every cabin class. First and Business Class customers were able to safely network and mingle in the iconic A380 Onboard Lounge. In addition, all customers enjoyed a full-course meal.
All EK2021 passengers were provided rapid COVID-19 PCR tests, facilitated by Pure Health. Pure Health, the largest integrated healthcare solutions provider in the UAE, has facilitated the administration of up to 4 million PCR tests at Dubai Airports to date. It has also played a vital role in providing COVID-19 testing support to the aviation industry at large, since the start of the pandemic.
After passengers checked in, they received the green ‘Choose to Vaccinate’ pin and took photos to mark the special event. All EK2021 customers who passed through immigration also received a bespoke ‘Choose to Vaccinate’ stamp on each boarding pass as an added keepsake.
As passengers disembarked, they were handed commemorative certificates for taking part in this initiative.
EK2021 was commanded by UAE National Captain Ahmed Al Obeidli, First Officer Ramon Wilde and flight deck crew were supported by Captain Ricky Garala. Earlier in the day, aviation entities across Dubai and the UAE were sending their messages of support on Twitter in advance of the special flight.
All proceeds for EK2021 have been donated to the Emirates Airline Foundation, the airline’s non-profit charity organisation which supports projects around the world aimed at improving the quality of life for disadvantaged children around the world.
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