Emirates has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Huawei, one of the world’s global tech giants, to further extend its existing partnership, allowing both brands to expand their reach in China and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) markets.
Apart from joint promotions designed to build brand awareness for Emirates and Huawei within their home base, the enhanced collaboration will also encompass the launch of customer-centric initiatives. These include enhanced and engaging experiences for Huawei smartphone users while booking tickets and making travel plans through the Emirates app.
This move was built on top of an already successful collaboration of the two brands established in early 2020. The Emirates app was made available on Huawei’s smartphone devices on its AppGallery from this time. With the newly signed MoU, the Emirates Mobile App on AppGallery will undergo further development. To date, the Emirates app has over 1 million installs from the AppGallery.
The airline strives to elevate its digital customer experience by leveraging cutting-edge technology, making the Emirates app a better travel companion to ensure a seamless customer journey on the go. Thus, the integration into Huawei’s ecosystem will allow the airline to tap into a wider target audience, especially in China which has been regarded as one of the key strategic markets for Emirates worldwide.
The Emirates app includes innovative functions such as the ice playlist creation, the ability to synchronize to aircraft seats prior to travel, and gain direction guides via the Airport Wayfinder around the Dubai International Airport.
The agreement was signed at the recently concluded Arabian Travel Market 2021 by Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations – Far East at Emirates and Lu Geng, Vice President Middle East and Africa of Huawei Global Partnerships & Eco-Development.
The joint cooperation will also see Emirates providing support for the Huawei search engine, Petal Search, on smart devices in the MEA region. Previously, the two companies have revealed future plans to integrate the Emirates app with the Huawei Wallet platform, enabling Skywards members to store membership details and loyalty points in the digital wallet.