Emirates eyes smart goggles to keep long-haul crown

Airline president says it faces a ‘gathering storm’ from budget rivals

Emirates, hoping to shake off budget airlines coveting its long-distance customers, has set its sights on goggles. The carrier is studying ways to equip staff with augmented reality glasses that display a passenger’s name and travel habits, allowing more personalised service, Emirates’ chief digital and innovation officer Christoph Mueller said. Travellers may also be given eyewear to help them navigate airports or browse food menus.

“We could enhance customer service tremendously,” said Mueller, who was appointed last year to help modernise the world’s biggest long-haul airline. “The consumer will want to interact in a completely different way.”

Emirates president Tim Clark has warned the company faces a “gathering storm” from budget rivals such as Norwegian Air Shuttle, which are expanding their north-Atlantic routes and threatening to erode the Gulf carrier’s market leadership. Emirates, which helped unseat western mainline carriers years ago with bigger planes boasting on-board showers and bars, is now betting on new technology to help it stay ahead.

Mueller is gearing Emirates’ technology for a new era as the airline grapples with some of the toughest operating conditions in its 30year history. In addition to competition from cheaper rivals, the carrier has recently been hit by weaker oil prices which have hurt demand from the Gulf’s wealthiest travellers. Augmented reality, available on gadgets such as Microsoft’s HoloLens headset and Apple’s iPhones, is gaining traction at companies seeking to improve customer service and worker productivity. Fashion brand Gap lets shoppers virtually try on clothes by dressing an avatar. Car manufacturers including Jeep and BMW offer 3D versions of their vehicles on mobile devices. HP’s app guides users replacing ink cartridges. Thyssenkrupp repairmen wear goggles to access technical data, hands-free, when fixing skyscraper elevators.

The new policies represent a fundamental shift at the carrier — known for flying the largest fleet of Airbus A380, plush suites and ads featuring Jennifer Aniston. “We have been disrupted, which is quite obvious if you look at our performance,” Mueller said on June 6.

Still, it may be a while before any Emirates mixologist dons goggles. Augmented reality technology remains in its infancy outside of gaming applications such as Pokemon Go, and most usage is in the pilot stages. Corporate applications largely run over mobile devices — rather than via eyewear — and it’s hard to imagine how the clunky sci-fi style equipment will fit with Emirates’ sleek aesthetics.

“It still looks a little bit odd,” Mueller concedes. “But maybe that can be overcome.”