Emirates has expanded its current Covid-19 insurance coverage, adding multi-risk travel cover for all passengers from December 1. The cover is designed to provide “stress-free and hassle-free travel”, hoping to encourage an uptick in travel in 2021.
The cover is provided by AIG travel and automatically applies to all Emirates tickets purchased from December 1, as well as codeshare flights operated by partner airlines (providing that the ticket number begins with 176).
The cover is free-of-charge and covers all Emirates passengers when they fly to any destination, in any aircraft cabin.
The airline first introduced Covid-19 insurance coverage in July, covering medical expenses of up to €150,000 and quarantine costs of €100 per day for 14 days should passengers be diagnosed with Covid-19 during their travel.
Emirates has enhanced the coverage by including the following features:
- Up to US$50,000 in medical and repatriation expenses should passengers contract Covid-19 during the trip
- Up to US$7,500 in cancellation costs should the traveller or a relative (as defined by the policy) be unable to travel because they are diagnosed with Covid-19 before the scheduled trip departure date
- Up to US$7,500 in cancellation or curtailment expenses if the school year is extended due to Covid-19 beyond the departure date, and the traveller or a relative is a full-time teacher, full-time employee, or a student at a primary or secondary school
- Up to US$7,500 in curtailment expenses to return passengers to their country of residence if the traveller or a relative falls critically ill, for instance, and contracts Covid-19 while travelling abroad
- Up to US$7,500 in expenses if the traveller fails a Covid-19-related test or medical screening at the airport and is required to abandon the trip
- Quarantine expenses of up to US$150 per day for a maximum of 14 days if passengers are unexpectedly placed into a mandatory quarantine outside their country of residence by a governmental body
Passengers will also continue to benefit from the airline’s flexible rebooking policy, allowing customers who purchase a ticket for travel on or before March 31, 2021, to change their travel dates or extend their ticket validity for two years.
HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and CEO of Emirates, commented on the enhanced coverage:
“Emirates was the first airline to offer complimentary global COVID-19 cover for travellers back in July, and the response from our customers has been tremendously encouraging. We’ve not rested on our laurels and instead continued to look at how we can offer our customers an even better proposition. We’re very pleased to be able to now provide this new multi-risk travel insurance and COVID-19 cover, which is another industry first, to all our customers.
“We see a strong appetite for travel around the world, especially heading into the winter holidays as people seek warmer climates and family destinations like Dubai. By launching this new multi-risk travel insurance and COVID-19 cover, we aim to give our customers even more confidence in making their travel plans this winter and moving into 2021.”
Emirates recently announced that it is set to increase its A380 services to UK cities following the addition of the UAE to the UK’s travel corridor list.
Earlier this month, Finnair launched its complimentary Covid-19 insurance cover for passengers departing from Finland to ‘provide extra protection and security’ in the age of the pandemic.
