This new initiative comes under a new Emirates and KHDA partnership
Thinking about heading to Dubai for university? Getting there, getting home and keeping up with travel during your studies could soon be a little more straightforward.
Emirates has teamed up with Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) on a new partnership designed to support international students and make Dubai more accessible as a study destination.
For students enrolled at KHDA-regulated private higher education institutions, Emirates will offer a new range of travel benefits, including specially tailored fares, extra baggage and greater flexibility when booking flights.
The benefits will cover travel to and from Dubai, as well as journeys across the Emirates network.
In practical terms, the new proposition is aimed at making the travel side of studying abroad a little easier.
Extra baggage could come in handy when you’re moving to Dubai with more than just a suitcase, while greater flexibility and tailored fares could make it easier to plan trips between university, home and other destinations during the year.
Faculty and teaching staff will also have access to travel benefits through the Emirates Academic Programme, while the airline will provide dedicated travel support for students on the Hamdan bin Mohammed Scholarship Programme.
The partnership is part of Dubai’s wider Education 33 (E33) strategy, which is focused on growing the emirate’s education sector and attracting more international students.
Under the strategy’s City of Students initiative, Dubai aims to increase the proportion of international students enrolled in its higher education institutions to 50 per cent by 2033, while also seeking to position Dubai among the world’s top 10 student cities.
Emirates and KHDA will also take part in international student recruitment missions and events alongside Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism and TECOM Group.
The aim is to showcase Dubai’s universities and education opportunities in key international markets served by Emirates.
Emirates has also signed a separate agreement with ICEF, an international education network, becoming its preferred airline for education travel.
The partnership will see the two organisations work on dedicated travel options for ICEF-accredited agencies and their student customers, as well as exploring booking support and account management for member organisations.
There will also be joint campaigns aimed at international students and education professionals, alongside Emirates’ presence at major ICEF events in Berlin, Dubai and the US.
The airline will also contribute to ICEF training programmes and conferences, while sharing insights around student travel and destination trends.
For students considering Dubai, the new partnerships are essentially about making the journey between home and campus easier to manage.
With Emirates’ global network and Dubai’s growing higher education sector, the airline and KHDA are looking to make the city more accessible to students arriving from international markets, and make staying connected with home a little easier once they get here.
For further information, visit emirates.com
