Emirates Will Cover Your Funeral Costs If You Catch Covid-19 While Travelling

Emirates is offering to cover funeral costs and medical expenses for customers should they contract Covid-19 while travelling.

In a bid to encourage people to get flying, the airline is offering customers a comprehensive coronavirus package free of charge.

Under the initiative, Emirates will cover medical expenses incurred by the disease up to the value of €150,000 (£137,000/$176,500). It will also foot the bill should customers have to quarantine in a hotel for up to a fortnight at €100 (£90/$119) per day.

If in the worst case scenario of a passenger dying after contracting coronavirus, the insurance cover will provide €1,500 (£1,356/$1,783) towards the cost of their funeral.

The coverage is free to all customers regardless of class of travel or destination and is applied automatically with no need to register. It is available now and will run until the end of October, with passengers covered for 31 days after their first flight.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Group Chairman and Chief Executive, said: "Under the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Emirates is proud to lead the way in boosting confidence for international travel.

"We know people are yearning to fly as borders around the world gradually re-open, but they are seeking flexibility and assurances should something unforeseen happen during their travel. Emirates has worked hard to put in place measures at every step of the customer journey to mitigate risk of infection, and we have also revamped our booking policies to offer flexibility.

"We are now taking it to the next level, by being the first in the industry to offer our customers free global cover for Covid-19 medical expenses and quarantine costs should they incur these costs during their travel. It is an investment on our part, but we are putting our customers first, and we believe they will welcome this initiative."

The move comes as airlines across the world attempt to rebuild, with lockdown measures devastating the industry. The closing of borders has limited travel, while the cancelling of major events and closure of public venues has also dented tourism.

Emirates is due to cut up to 9,000 jobs due to the pandemic, which equates to around 15 percent of its staff.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: holidays, Coronavirus, travel

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey