‘Humza’s Happy Place’: Emirates And Dubai Airport Initiate Travel Rehearsals For Neurodiverse Children

With the intention of improving the travel experience for neurodivergent passengers, Emirates and Dubai International Airport (DXB) promoting ‘travel rehearsals’ where children can practice their journey through the airport and onboard aircraft to enable accessible and inclusive travel.

Recently, Humza Dabab, an autistic child, flew from Melbourne to Dubai with his mother and two siblings in his favourite airline, Emirates. Though it was his first flight with Emirates, his parents said that he is already familiar with all the details about Emirates from his own studies. He had also bought his own safety belt and acted out the safety advisory for which he remembered all the words.

‘The plane is Humza’s happy place. The destination is not even the most exciting part of the journey, I can wholeheartedly say it is the plane ride itself. He is so excited to be finally travelling with Emirates,’ Lamees, Hamza’s mother said.

For Humza, being on time is important for his particular needs. Since the possibility of running late or missing the flight would cause significant anxiety in him, it should be mitigated in advance. Emirates and Dubai International Airport staffs are well trained and equipped for these requests and can enable priority boarding for neurodivergent passengers, and can offer a support system in the airport for customers who communicate their additional needs. The neurodivergent passengers are referred to as People of Determination in the UAE.

Emirates is working closely with Dubai Airports to facilitate travel rehearsals for neurodiverse children, including students from the Mohammed bin Rashid Center for Special Education.

The travel rehearsals for neurodiverse children, facilitated by Emirates in close association with Dubai Airports is a part of their accessible and inclusive travel programme. Its objective is to help customers familiarise themselves with the airport environment, its people and processes, prior to travel. The practice process helps the families gain confidence in managing the experience, at the same time it enables the airline and Dubai Airports to constantly improve services for passengers with additional needs, Emirates said.

(With inputs from Emirates Media Centre)