Khaleej Times

Emirates steps up aircraft cleaning as extra precaution

- Waheed Abbas waheed@khaleejtim­es.com

dubai — Dubai’s Emirates airline has stepped up its aircraft cleaning protocol as part of precaution­ary measures against Covid-19. And if any case of infection is detected, all cabins of the plane involved shall be disinfecte­d, according to a top official of the firm.

“The safety and health of our customers and employees is taken very seriously and we are continuous­ly liaising with internatio­nal and local health organisati­ons to ensure we are following the most up-to-date medical guidelines and directives,” Adel Al Redha, chief operating officer of Emirates airline, said in a statement on how the team is handling the impact of the global outbreak.

Since January, the airline has activated its crisis management centre. Medical

advice was provided to staff and airport procedures were closely followed, said Al Redha.

But with some countries imposing travel restrictio­ns, the airline also had to “reduce frequencie­s or cancel flights to specific destinatio­ns”, he added.

Up to one-month leave for employees

Emirates has now given its employees the option to avail of leave or apply for a voluntary unpaid leave for up to one month at a time, owing to the impact of the virus.

“The knock on effect of these operationa­l changes has resulted in more resources than required in certain areas of the business for our day-to-day requiremen­ts… Considerin­g the availabili­ty of additional resources and the fact that many employees want to utilise their leave, we have provided our employees the option to avail leave or apply for voluntary unpaid leave for up to one month at a time,” the official said.

The Dubai-based carrier on Monday sent an e-mail to its employees, asking them to take leaves as it expects “measurable impact” from Covid-19. Al Redha said the airline is seeing some slowdown in certain markets but there has been high demand in other areas.

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