Dubai: Emirates has officially unveiled its interactive stand at the eighth edition of AccessAbilities Expo, the region’s leading event for accessibility and inclusive innovation, taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 19 to 21 October 2026.
The exhibition was officially opened by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group, and patron of AccessAbilities Expo.
The Emirates exhibition revealed several innovative and future-focused ideas currently in development, including a cabin familiarisation concept being explored for customers who are blind or have low vision, an accessible lounge suite for customers with reduced mobility, and biometric boarding gates for customers with accessible travel requirements.
“Emirates’ ambition is to help shape a more inclusive future for aviation as part of the core customer experience. We are looking beyond individual services and working with our partners to consider accessibility across the complete journey, from planning and the airport environment to the onboard experience and across destinations. Guided by customer insight and lived experience, our focus is on practical improvements that reduce barriers, expand choice, and enable people to travel with greater clarity, confidence, independence, and dignity,” said Mostafa Karam, Divisional Senior Vice President of Customer Affairs and Service Audit at Emirates.
Emirates cabin exploration for customers with low vision
At the stand, Emirates showcased an immersive, accessibility-led experience of the onboard journey for passengers who are blind or have low vision. Through a combination of spatial audio, tactile seat exploration and guided host interaction, the activation recreates key moments of the aircraft cabin experience in a calm, premium environment.
Visitors are invited to experience an audio-led journey while sitting in a real Emirates A350 aircraft seat with a U-Dream headrest, as the audio describes aspects of the cabin around them. Rather than focusing solely on technology, the experience highlights how thoughtful design can help passengers build confidence, understand their surroundings, and travel with greater independence, dignity and ease.
Emirates barrier-free access and biometrics in Dubai
Visitors to the Emirates stand can see and experience the Emirates Biometric Path. At Emirates’ hub in Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB), accessible boarding gates feature a barrier-free design and biometrics to support smooth, independent movement for passengers with disabilities.
The area now features flexible camera coverage, allowing cameras to self-adjust to different heights and angles without restricting or dictating a person’s movement if they use a wheelchair.
Emirates’ self-service check-in kiosks have also been improved with text-to-speech functionality, enhanced touchscreen usability, Braille and tactile features, audio accessibility via a headphone connection, and height-adjustable interfaces that support a wider range of passenger needs.
Emirates Accessible Lounge Suite
Emirates also showcased a new, dedicated wheelchair-accessible quiet area that offers customers with reduced mobility a comfortable and private space to rest and recharge before their flight.
Emirates Lounge Suites provide customers with private spaces to relax, work and dine in comfort and were first introduced in First Class Lounges in 2024. Drawing on the Emirates ground and inflight experience, they combine premium design with integrated technology, including wireless charging and entertainment screens.
The Accessible Lounge Suite is the next evolution of the concept. It is designed to support passengers who use wheelchairs, passengers with reduced mobility, older travellers and anyone who may benefit from additional comfort, transfer space or postural support, while retaining the privacy and premium quality of the original suite.
Finished in the latest Emirates lounge palette of wood, leather and marble, the suite integrates accessibility into its design. Features include a powered lift recliner with uplift, swivel and recline functions, as well as integrated grab bars for enhanced support and independence.
The lounge suite also includes dedicated wheelchair storage and accessible transfer space, enabling customers to relax independently or with the support of a companion. The prototype is currently being developed for First Class, with the potential to expand to other classes in the future.
Products and services currently available to Emirates customers
Emirates Travel Rehearsals Programme
Emirates Travel Rehearsals are bespoke events arranged by Emirates and airports around the world. They enable children and young adults with autism, together with their families and support networks, to practise the journey through the airport in preparation for real flights, helping to ease travel anxiety and empower them to fly with greater confidence.
More than 35,000 Emirates staff have been trained to support customers with autism and can help facilitate travel and Travel Rehearsals. Emirates teams work closely with airport authorities and partners to help make each rehearsal a supportive and successful experience for families.
Emirates has now completed 80 Travel Rehearsals across six continents, positively impacting more than 400 families. Travel Rehearsals have taken place at airports including Accra, Amsterdam, Antananarivo, Athens, Bangkok, Barcelona, Bengaluru, Birmingham, Bogotá, Bologna, Brisbane, Brussels, Budapest, Cairo, Cape Town, Cebu, Christchurch, Clark, Colombo, Copenhagen, Da Nang, Dallas Fort Worth, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Denpasar (Bali), Dubai, Dublin, Durban, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Geneva, Glasgow, Guangzhou, Hamburg, Hanoi, Harare, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Houston, Istanbul, Jeddah, Larnaca, Lisbon, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Stansted, Los Angeles, Luanda, Lusaka, Madrid, Malé, Manchester, Melbourne, Miami, Milan, Muscat, Newcastle, Nice, Orlando, Oslo, Paris, Perth, Peshawar, Phuket, Port Louis, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Seattle, Stockholm, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, Toronto, Trivandrum, Valletta, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw and Washington D.C.
Accessible & Inclusive Travel Hub on Emirates.com
The Emirates Accessible & Inclusive Travel Hub on Emirates.com brings together information to help customers understand Emirates’ accessible and inclusive travel services, plan their journey and identify available support.
Customers can explore sections by disability, including Mobility Assistance, Visual Impairment, Hearing Impairment and Hidden Disabilities. Alternatively, they can search by specific stages of the journey: Before your flight, Departure from Dubai, Onboard your flight, Connecting in Dubai and Arriving in Dubai.
A third option allows customers to browse by specific needs, including booking special assistance, preparing for travel with the autism-friendly guide, exploring the Dubai Airport (DXB) map and sensory guides, finding Emirates support through the Be My Eyes app for people who are visually impaired, and applying for a Sanad tourist card to access helpful services in Dubai.
Dedicated sections also cover Travelling with a Wheelchair and Mobility Aids and Medical Travel. This includes information about the Frequent Traveller Medical Card (FREMEC) for eligible customers with stable medical conditions, as well as guidance on travelling with medications and medical devices.
The Accessible & Inclusive Travel Hub also features a Family Travel section with information on travelling with children, travelling during pregnancy and Unaccompanied Minors travel.
Emirates sensory products and fidget toys
Emirates has designed a range of sensory products and fidget toys for customers of all ages, available onboard in all cabin classes.
Sensory and fidget tools are widely recognised as providing a familiar tactile activity and may help some neurodivergent passengers regulate sensory input, focus or feel more comfortable during travel.
Emirates has designed a tactile stress reliever in the shape of an aircraft, two types of fidget cube and a branded aircraft rubber popper. The items are offered to passengers who are neurodiverse, anyone who is struggling onboard and, where appropriate, nervous flyers.
Accessibility features on inflight entertainment, ice
Emirates is committed to setting industry standards for accessibility for people with disabilities and now offers more than 850 movies with closed captions and 200 movies with audio description for customers with visual impairments.
Emirates headphones are also compatible with hearing aids when set to the ‘T’ position. To help alleviate anxiety or enhance relaxation, there are 12 channels of Wellbeing TV and 31 channels of Happiness and Wellbeing podcasts and playlists, including meditations and soothing sounds.
Onboard the Emirates Airbus A350-900, a new user interface on ice has been designed in partnership with Thales and advocacy groups for customers with visual impairments, helping to ensure an intuitive, high-quality inflight entertainment experience.
The interface includes audio-cue navigation, voice metadata feedback, and touch-and-swipe gesture support, helping passengers who are blind or have low vision navigate and select content more independently.
Emirates Accessible Chauffeur Drive Service
Ten Emirates-branded wheelchair-accessible vehicles are now available to customers in Dubai.
The Emirates Chauffeur Drive accessible vehicle is a Mercedes V-Class with a lowered-floor conversion kit to provide easier and safer access, increased head clearance, an electrically operated easy-pull mechanism for boarding and disembarking, and adjustable seating arrangements.
Once inside, additional safety restraints secure customers who may have severe mobility disabilities. Emirates chauffeur drivers are currently being trained in mobility assistance and to support customers with disabilities.
The wheelchair-accessible vehicle is currently available to eligible First and Business Class customers using chauffeur drive services in Dubai, with plans to extend availability in the future.
Emirates’ focus on accessible travel
Championing change
Emirates is championing change in the aviation industry, with the goal of making travel more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
As part of these efforts, Emirates established a dedicated Office of Accessibility and Inclusion and became the world’s first Autism Certified Airline in March 2025. Emirates has trained more than 35,000 staff to support customers with autism and has introduced the Travel Rehearsal initiative across six continents, allowing customers to practise the airport experience before travelling.
Designing for dignity
Emirates is designing new policies, processes and products with a focus on the dignity of customers with accessibility requirements.
To empower customers to fly with confidence, Emirates has introduced an Accessibility policy and commitment, implemented new processes in Call Centres to support customer requirements, launched the Accessible & Inclusive Travel Hub on Emirates.com, and introduced new products to support accessible travel, informed by direct feedback from communities and groups with accessible travel needs.
Advancing accessibility
Emirates continues to advance the accessible travel agenda in an evolving space, taking a step-by-step approach and prioritising innovation.
The airline also works with international partners, including legislators, operators, specific groups and communities, and customers worldwide, to advance accessible travel. Emirates also aims to improve accessibility by standardising global processes and creating greater consistency across online channels, call centres, airports and the inflight experience.
Source: Emirates 24|7