Emirates, one of two national airlines of the United Arab Emirates, has unveiled a range of new services and products for passengers with disabilities at the seventh AccessAbilities Expo, held at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Passengers will be able to take advantage of new features to enable barrier-free travel, and the Accessible & Inclusive Travel Hub can provide useful information.
New Innovations for Barrier-free Travel
This is not the first time Emirates has made strides to make travel easier for people with disabilities. In March 2025, Emirates became the world’s first Autism Certified Airline, and has provided training for more than 35,000 cabin crew and ground staff to enable them to support passengers with autism. In line with this status, Emirates has proudly announced its new measures to make travel more welcoming and inclusive for passengers with a wide variety of accessibility needs.
One way in which Emirates is accomplishing this is with improvements to Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport (DXB), where the airline’s hub is located. At this terminal, a ‘smart corridor’ has been implemented with biometrics and a barrier-free design to allow for independent and smooth travel through the terminal for passengers with disabilities. The areas feature flexible camera coverage, meaning that cameras for use in biometrics will be able to adjust for varying heights and angles to accommodate wheelchair users and passengers with mobility issues. The Emirates self-service check-in kiosks have also been upgraded with features including text-to-speech functionality, self-adjusting height, headphone jacks and tactile features for passengers with sight loss.
On board, accessibility features have also been integrated into ice, Emirates’ inflight entertainment system. Passengers can now enjoy over 600 movies with closed captioning, and 200 movies can be played with audio description enabled. Emirates headphones are also compatible with hearing aids set to the ‘T’ position. Business Class mattresses have also received an upgrade in the form of a mattress hood, which will attach the mattress to the seat more securely so that passengers with mobility issues do not need to have their mattress collected during the flight and therefore will not need to be moved, increasing their comfort and convenience. Another accommodation which Emirates has in store for passengers with mobility issues is a fleet of wheelchair-accessible vehicles to safely raise and lower wheelchair users. Although this service is currently exclusive to First and Business Class passengers in Dubai, the airline plans to expand this in the future.
Lastly, to relieve anxiety or provide sensory relief, there are accommodations such as meditations, soothing sounds and podcasts from the inflight entertainment system on board, as well as sensory products and fidget toys for customers to use in all flight classes. The sensory products come in three different types and will be provided to neurodiverse passengers, those struggling with overstimulation, and nervous fliers where appropriate.
The Emirates Accessible & Inclusive Travel Hub
In addition to the new products and services Emirates is offering to its passengers with various accessibility needs, the airline is providing information about accessibility and assistance for passengers through its new Accessible & Inclusive Travel Hub, available on the airline’s official website. The website, aimed at reducing anxiety around accessibility while flying, has been designed with user-friendliness and adaptive technology in mind, such as screen readers, voice control and keyboard navigation.
Customers can sort by disability to find the accomodations to make their travel experience with Emirates a seamless one. There are dedicated sections on departing from Dubai, entering Dubai, making connections and more. Passengers can also find sensory maps available to help navigate Dubai International Airport, as well as an autism-friendly guide, which allows passengers with autism to navigate the airport and complete the various steps of travel smoothly and independently. The online portal also has information regarding travel during pregnancy, travel with children and how unaccompanied minors can travel with Emirates.
Will you be benefitting from Emirates’ improvements to accessibility onboard? Please share your experiences in the comments.
