Emirates Airline will pay for your medical expenses, quarantine cost, funeral if you catch COVID-19 while flying

On Thursday, Emirate airline revealed some of the measures it would be putting in place to contain the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which has made the company inactive for more than 3 months now. The company revealed that it would be introducing new free coronavirus insurance. Hence, all passengers that would be traveling from October 31 would get free coronavirus insurance which would last for one month. The free coronavirus insurance would cover quarantine cost, medical expenses, and repatriation expenses in case you miss your flight. 

 Also if a passenger dies from the virus during a trip, the company would cover all expenses of repatriating the body and other burial expenses. 

Emirate introduced this to boost customers' confidence and to fuel more patronage as the company has reduced the number of passengers it would take to about 10% of its usual number before the outbreak. 

Also included in the new free coronavirus insurance, Emirate revealed that if a passenger is diagnosed with COVID-19 during the journey, it would pay all medical expenses up to €150,000 which is about $176,000 and also pay quarantine cost of €100  which is about $118 for two weeks. If the passenger lost his or her life during the course of treatment, the company would pay €1,500, about $1,765 for the passenger's funeral expenses. 

However, passengers would start benefiting from the new measures from October 31 and this would last up to one month.

According to Emirate, passengers would start benefiting from the free insurance from "the moment you take your first flight, and it covers you even if you travel onwards to another city." Meanwhile, the company said the coronavirus free insurance does not include testing. As such, passengers are expected to first contact the airline to approve its expenses before booking a flight. 

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March, Emirate Airlines has been most affected because it only travels International. In fact, despite the gradual reopening of business activities, the company is yet to start work fully. Aside from handling only international travels, one of the major reasons why the company is yet to start work fully is because the spread of the coronavirus pandemic is yet to abate. Hence, it only introduces this in a bid to instigate more demand and passenger revenue. The new free coronavirus insurance would cover all expenses should the company record any case of the virus. 

Earlier this month, the airline president, Tim Clark, revealed that Emirate has suffered a 90% fall in its demand since the outbreak of the coronavirus. The company has only been able to keep some revenue flowing through its diversion to cargo operation during the period of lockdown and travel ban. 

Furthermore, the company revealed that the free COVID-19 insurance package was provided through NEXtCARE, an arm of travel insurance provider Allianz. Aside from test payment, every other payment in relation to the coronavirus is free and the application for the insurance is automatic. This implies that it requires no extra registrations. 

"It is an investment on our part, but we are putting our customers first, and we believe they will welcome this initiative." Emirates Group CEO Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said in a press release.

Although many airline companies have tried to boost their customers' confidence through different means, Emirate is the first to introduce free coronavirus insurance. Among some of the moves made by other airline companies include Uzbekistan, who declared that it would offer $3000 to visitors or passengers that contracted the virus while traveling. In the same vein, Cyprus offered to cover the cost of quarantine and medication of any passenger that developed the virus while traveling. 

Also, despite the fact that the fear of the coronavirus is one of the major things responsible for little or no traveling at all, this is not all the case. Travel restrictions, border closure, quarantine requirements, and medication are part of what has made airline companies stop functioning since the outbreak of the virus. In addition to this, the cancellation of international business meetings and conferences have contributed to the lack of patronage in airlines, especially international airlines. 

This and many more are what Emirate company is trying to take care of with its new free coronavirus insurance. Beginning from October 31, passengers who patronize Emirate Airline would start benefiting from the new coronavirus insurance. Hopefully, this would revive the company's business activities again.