Dubai-based international airline Emirates is bringing Christmas joy to the skies this month with a delicious festive menu on select flights and nostalgic films on board.

Customers travelling for the holidays in December will enjoy several Christmas specials across all cabin classes on board and on the ground.

Christmas menus

With an extensive offering of festive favourites available all December, Emirates’ popular Christmas inspired menu will return for the third year in a row for those travelling from Dubai to select routes to Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States and South Africa.

Passengers in Economy Class will be able to indulge in a delicious turkey roll with mashed potato, pan fried Vienna Chicken Sausage, green peas, baby carrots and cranberry jus lié prepared by Emirates’ award-winning chefs. For dessert, Emirates will serve milk chocolate mousse with cranberry compote topped with a reindeer chocolate button.

Customers in First and Business Class can enjoy roasted turkey breast and apricot stuffing, roast potatoes with creamy brussels sprouts with turkey bacon and cranberry jus lié. For dessert, passengers will be served festive sweets such as a chocolate Yule log garnished with meringue drops, chocolate stars and a Gingerbread Man or a Chocolate Mint dome decorated with snow fondant and a festive leaf served with crème anglaise.

On Emirates A380 routes, First and Business class customers will also get a taste of Christmas in the iconic Onboard Lounge with a limited edition Santa’s Spiced Amarula Cocktail and mince pies.

Passengers flying First Class can also enjoy a decadent hot chocolate blend served with marshmallows and gingerbread men. Young travellers in First Class will be treated with sweet marshmallow biscuits inspired by snowmen.

Throughout the festive season, passengers will be able to take advantage of Emirates’ wide beverage selection to complement their Christmas meals on board. Travellers can enjoy some of the finest wines and champagnes served in the skies to complement their Christmas meals.

In addition, Emirates has a refreshed spirits offering across all classes with range of whiskeys, cognacs, gins, vodka and flavoured liqueurs amongst others. The spirits offering includes a mix of niche, hand-crafted brands as well as popular and well-loved spirits such as Hennessy cognacs, including the exclusive Hennessy Paradis in First Class.

Onboard treats for young travellers

Young flyers will be surprised with a chocolate lollipop featuring a reindeer as a treat with all children’s lunches and dinners.

In Economy Class, children will feel at home with a delicious turkey roll with trimmings, milk chocolate mousse served with cranberry compote topped with the reindeer chocolate button. In First and Business Class, young travellers can enjoy turkey breast slices with roast potatoes, pan fried smoked chicken sausage, green peas and cranberry jus lié with a chocolate Yule log garnished with meringue drops, chocolate stars and Gingerbread Man for dessert.

Young flyers will also be able collect a limited Emirates Fly with Me Animal toy, with Bell the robin available on board for a limited time in December to offer children a travel companion.

In addition, limited edition Polaroid photo card sleeves will be available on all flights for both kids and adults.

Festive films on ice

To get travellers into the spirit of the holidays, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system ice will feature a range of Christmas classics. New additions include Love Actually, Home Alone, Elf, The Polar Express, The Holiday and It’s a Wonderful Life. TV entertainment will feature children’s Christmas episodes including Wiggly, Wiggly Christmas and The Snowman.

Reaching a milestone offering of over 1,000 movie choices – more than any other airline, travellers can enjoy up to 3,500 channels and over 2,000 hours of on demand inflight entertainment. Emirates’ ice aims to create a better-than-home experience this Christmas with the latest and best movies, great television and an extensive music selection for customers.

Emirates will also be the first airline to screen the 1982 classic film E.T. in December, a month earlier than other airlines.

For those looking to brush up on a new language in the New Year, the airline has added new language options to its uTalk courses including Swedish, Korean, Russian and Urdu.

Celebrations on ground

Travellers from Dubai can enjoy a stress-free experience even before boarding their flight during the festive period with Home Check-in. The service will check customers in and collect their luggage from anywhere in Dubai leaving them free to make their way to the airport at their convenience, skipping the check-in desks so they can go straight to Passport Control.

All 42 Emirates lounges across the network, including the 7 lounges in Dubai International Airport will be serving a range of traditional Christmas dishes including roasted turkey, roasted lamb leg with a rosemary jus sauce; and a wide selection of festive sweets like Christmas apple cinnamon cake, yule log cake and stolen cake, from 15 December to 31 December.

In partnership with Voss, passengers in the Business Class lounge in Concourse B in Dubai can also enjoy specially infused Voss water with advice from a Voss nutritionist to keep customers feeling fresh while travelling. The drinks include Energy Fruit Infusion (Lemon & Mint), Relax Fruit Infusion (Kiwi & Cucumber) and Detox Fruit Infusion (Apple, Lemon & Basil).

Emirates will also be hosting a Coffee Planet activation with special Christmas coffee drinks being served in First and Business Class lounges in Dubai from a specially designed cart during December. Drinks on offer include both Gingerbread latte and Caramelo latte.

Holiday gifting

Last minute Christmas shoppers can get gifts from the Emirates Official Store which has new Christmas inspired products in the festive airline collection. These include Christmas pyjama sets, Emirates festive greeting cards, Christmas sweaters and holiday mugs. These are also available in stores and online.

Launched in November, Emirates’ new Duty Free magazine has been renamed “Be” and showcases an enhanced range of 45 new and exciting brands including Cartier, Hugo Boss, Ray-Ban, Pandora and Tommy Hilfiger for Christmas gifting options passengers can purchase on board. There will be a special $15 discount when customers buy any two fragrances.

The festive celebrations on board and on the ground are part of Emirates’ commitment to enhance the customer experience with unique and seasonal offerings. In addition to the annual Christmas offering, Emirates also celebrates occasions such as Diwali, Eid, Lunar New Year and Oktoberfest. – TradeArabia News Service