Emirates rolling out travel rehearsal programmes for autistic children
One year after Emirates' first successful 'travel rehearsal' for children with autism, the programme is now being rolled out across 17 cities.
The programme allows children to practice the journey through the airport to prepare for real flights.
The rehearsal programme is being rolled out to cities including Barcelona, Brisbane, Budapest, Cebu, Christchurch, Dubai, Durban, Luanda, Madrid, Manila, Mauritius, Manchester, Montreal, Nice, Oslo, Paris, and Toronto, with more destinations committing to it every month.
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Travel rehearsals are conducted in partnership with airports, authorities, local centres, and foundations. This is not a bookable service and is available on an invitation basis in collaboration with accredited centres. Parents, therapists and teachers are also involved in the rehearsals.
The Travel Rehearsal concept first began in 2023 as a community collaboration between Emirates, Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism, Dubai Airports, the General Directorate of Identity and Foreigners Affairs, Dubai Police and Dubai Customs, and several schools and centres for autism in Dubai, whose feedback was invaluable to the process.
For many people with autism, air travel is a challenging experience or something to be avoided altogether due to the high level of sensory stimuli that can be involved. A survey on AutismTravel.com revealed that 78% of families are hesitant to travel or visit new locations, and 94% of respondents would take more vacations if they had access to places where staff are autism-trained and certified.
Emirates has also become the world's first Autism Certified Airline™, with more than 30,000 cabin crew and ground staff now trained to support customers with autism.
