Imsak, Iftar in air: How Emirates is preparing for Ramadan, helping faithful passengers

With the holy month of Ramadan expected to begin this week, Emirates is preparing for fasting passengers both onboard and at boarding gates.

The airline will not only provide religious content on its entertainment system, but will also have iftar boxes ready.

Iftar meal boxes

From the March 22, passengers breaking their fast across all cabin classes to select Emirates destinations will receive thoughtful, nutritionally-balanced iftar meal boxes.

Iftar meals will be served in boxes designed by Emirates to represent the rich Emirati heritage of the Al Sadu weavers. Al Sadu is a traditional form of weaving practised by Bedouin women of the UAE, who handmade soft furnishings and decorative accessories with distinctive geometric patterns.

Reflecting the social aspect of Ramadan as family and friends gather to break the fast, the Al Sadu weavers used to come together in groups to spin and weave, exchanging family news, singing, and reciting poetry.

The iftar meal boxes will include light dishes and starters such as hummus and spinach bil zeit, Greek salad and cauliflower bil tahini, falafel sandwiches, pasta salad and fried aubergine with mint, zaatar chicken salad and cauliflower bil tahini, chicken musakhan sandwiches with Arabic bread, as well as staples like traditional dates and refreshing laban. A smaller box will also be served at boarding gates at Iftar time including all the essentials to comfortably break the fast.

The boxes will be served on flights to select destinations during times that coincide with iftar, on flights to and from the Gulf region, as well as flights catering to Umrah groups travelling to Jeddah and Medina during the month of Ramadan. Passengers may also check in one bottle of Islamic holy water ‘Zamzam’, containing up to 5 litres per person at Dubai International Airport (DXB) and various airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Iftar time announcements

To ensure the highest levels of accuracy for fasting Muslim passengers, Emirates uses a unique tool to calculate the correct timings for imsak (the time to commence fasting) and iftar while in-flight, based on the times of the sunrise and sunset of the location the flight is passing by using the aircraft’s longitude, latitude, and altitude. When the sun sets, passengers will be officially informed of the iftar time by the captain.

Ramadan refreshments in lounges

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