The Group launched its very own Gender Balance Council to represent all its women employees, create a knowledge sharing platform, and advance the cause of gender balance. On the council’s agenda are mentorship programmes, professional development workshops, outreach and events that champion women in the workforce. A key focus will be to support the Group’s existing commitments, including the UAE Gender Balance Council pledge, the NOORA network, UN Global Compact principles, and IATA’s 25x2025.

Today, Group employees were treated to talks by Liz Wiseman, bestselling author of multiple leadership books, including Multipliers, and CEO of leadership research firm, the Wiseman Group. Liz left her audience with valuable insights and practical strategies to enhance their leadership skills.

The Emirates Group’s gender balance strategy is three-pronged: equal pay and fair compensation; equitable recruitment, development, and promotion; and balanced policies, inclusivity programmes and initiatives. The Group’s pay and remuneration structures are free of gender bias.

The Group has long been an employer of choice, and its appeal is clearly growing among women from Gen Z and Millennials to experienced professionals. As of 1 March 2024, women in the Group workforce -

• increased by 1% to 26,896 or 43% of the workforce, of which 1,240 are UAE Nationals
• represent
  • 39% of middle management and 15% of executive management
  • 56% of new joiners and 55% of those promoted
  • 50% of movements from middle to senior management level
  • 67% of lateral moves
  • 1,218 roles, of which 462 roles have only women
• account for 26% overall of leadership and management training, which includes partnerships with premier institutions such as Global Business Consortium, INSEAD and top universities. INSEAD for Emirati women leaders is designed to help them build networks with professionals worldwide.
• continue to enjoy their careers at the Group after becoming mothers as post maternity leave, 88% of women overall and 85% of cabin crew returned to work.
• were recognised for their achievements – 3,659 women or 30% of total employees rewarded

The key initiatives that showcase the Group’s commitment to achieve gender balance and women empowerment include:

UAE Gender Balance Council pledge: signed in January 2023 to achieve 30% women in the workforce and increase female representation in middle to senior management by 2025.

NOORA, Aurora 50: signed a two-year partnership with Aurora50 and is one of the cofounders of NOORA, a network of women from diverse professional backgrounds who support like-minded, ambitions individuals.

UN Global Compact (UNGC): In April 2023, Emirates and dnata joined UNGC and reaffirmed their commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Four women employees represent the Group in in the UNGC’s Target Gender Equality accelerator programme.

IATA 25x2025 – dnata signed this initiative in 2021 and have rolled out a range of programmes – from career development workshops and mentoring to maternity coaching for return to work, a mum’s support group and more.

The Group has also rolled out unconscious bias training to minimise employees’ hidden prejudices, launched a chapter of the global movement #IAmRemarkable to amplify women’s stories, a Women in Leadership (WIL) forum and Women in the Emirates Group community. All these initiatives take members on a journey of discovery, knowledge and discussion with speakers, webinars, workshops, mentoring and networking opportunities.

Not just its employees, the Group goes beyond borders to protect, educate and empower girls in economically disadvantaged areas. The Emirates Airline Foundation supports the IIMPACT Girls Education Project, which is dedicated to transforming the lives of women, families and communities in the most remote and rural areas of India by empowering girls through education. IIMPACT educates girls in over 1,100 villages in 11 states of India, and now has more than 4,200 girls enrolled at its learning centres. The Foundation fully funds operating expenses of Saint Rita de Cassia Orphanage, which houses more than 96 orphaned 4 to 12-year-old abandoned girls in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Both organisations have signed an agreement to develop an immersive Extended Reality (iXR) platform and capability for the Emirates Group’s cabin crew, new joiners, and the wider industry partner community. 3D virtual hubs, virtual training, gamified environments, simulated experiences – all this and infinitely more are in the offing as the Group adds on ground-breaking features and technology to the platform.

iXR, powered by AWS spatial computing and artificial intelligence, will deliver technical capabilities with photorealistic experiences. Designed to meet employees on their stomping grounds, iXR experiences will be available across next-gen wearables and hand-held devices, including tablets and mobiles, with a consistent, hi-fidelity experience, streamed from the cloud.

In the first phase, iXR will have three distinct capabilities – a collaborative hub and social space; cabin crew training; and employee onboarding.

An Emirates Virtual Hub will welcome employees to engaging and interactive brand experiences.

iXR will introduce an unparalleled 3D interactive experience to the airline’s award-winning cabin crew by leveraging advanced technology to create a truly immersive environment. Here, crew will be transported into a meticulously constructed digital universe with virtual classrooms, engage with and learn from seasoned facilitators and peers, and navigate the intricate interiors of the airline’s flagship A380s and Boeing 777s. The environment will feature cabin service trainers, photorealistic avatars, and spatial audio for an authentic, sensory experience that enhances Emirates’ hospitality ethos.

The hyperreal virtual world will enable the Emirates Group’s new recruits to quickly and visually learn more about the organisation and its extensive business, the people and its culture, their own roles, and living in Dubai. Embedded support services will create a seamless onboarding experience for successful candidates.

Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer said: “The Emirates Group is synonymous with innovation and for always setting the bar high in the aviation industry. Our vision is to build a meaningful, practical and rewarding XR capability that takes advantage of AI’s evolution. We are using XR capability that is scalable and spans across the breadth of our Group’s brands and businesses. In the first phase, iXR will help cabin crew interact and familiarise themselves with the platform in an interactive, high-fidelity 3D environment which they can explore at their convenience, leading to greater knowledge transfer and employee satisfaction. During this phase, we will also develop our employee experience using iXR to seamlessly assimilate our people within the Group’s business, community and culture.

“iXR, which is on-track for launch later in the year, will establish us as the first and only airline with an embedded extended reality platform connecting its operations. It reflects our commitment to spearhead and entrench innovation and cutting-edge technologies in aviation for the benefit of our customers, communities and the industry.”

Al Opher, VP of Professional Services, AWS said: “Extended Reality (XR) is a rapidly emerging technology that will propel the aviation industry into the future. It will have a profound impact on training, design, and innovative service propositions in safe environments that are immersive, performance-oriented, and efficient. We are thrilled to support the Emirates Group’s transition into the 3D Web era by offering expertise in infrastructure, AI, and spatial computing solutions as well as our AWS Professional Services colleagues - global experts in these fields - to bring this technology to life. This collaboration will further equip Emirates employees to deliver unique and consistent end customer experiences. Together, we are revolutionizing the travel industry and raising the bar for new, exemplary experiences.”

iXR will feature advanced technologies including Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D tool, offering developers flexible, scalable, secure, and reliable real-time capabilities on AWS' cloud.

Dubai and the UAE are blazing the way in the digital economy with a clear vision, supported by practical policies and regulatory frameworks across virtual assets, AI, and data protection.

The Emirates Pavilion at Expo 2020 is being repurposed as a hub to develop cutting-edge future experiences aligned with the UAE’s vision for the digital economy. The Emirates Group continues to engage with industry partners on its Web3 strategy, and recruit talent for projects in its pipeline.

Emirates pioneered web virtual reality (VR) technology on emirates.com and its app more than 6 years ago, offering an immersive 3D, 360-degree view of its aircraft cabin interiors. Emirates also has its own VR app on the Oculus store, offering users accurate, life-size and interactive cabin interior experiences onboard Emirates’ flagship A380s and Boeing 777-300ER Gamechanger aircraft.