Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1225368
14 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 25 MARCH 2020 COMMERCIAL SINCE the COVID-19 outbreak began, Emirates and dnata have been adapting operations in line with regulatory directives as well as travel demand. The airline has aimed to maintain passenger flights for as long as feasible to help trav- ellers return home amidst an increasing number of travel bans, restrictions, and country lockdowns across the world. It continues to maintain vital international air cargo links for economies and communi- ties, deploying its fleet of 777 freighters for the transport of essential goods including med- ical supplies across the world. With many of its airline cus- tomers dramatically reducing flights or ceasing services al- together, dnata has also signif- icantly reduced its operations, including temporarily shutting some offices across its interna- tional network. dnata (Dubai National Air Transport Asso- ciation) is part of the Emirates Group and is one of the larg- est suppliers of combined air services in the world offering aircraft ground handling, car- go, travel, and flight catering services across five continents. Having received requests from governments and customers to support the repatriation of travellers, Emirates will con- tinue to operate passenger and cargo flights to the following countries until further notice, as long as borders remain open, and there is demand: the UK, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Thai- land, Malaysia, Philippines, Ja- pan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, South Africa, USA, and Canada. The situation re- mains dynamic, and travellers can check flight status on emir- ates.com. Cost reduction measures The Emirates Group has un- dertaken a series of measures to contain costs, as the out- look for travel demand remains weak across markets in the short to medium term. This in- cludes: • Postponing or cancelling discretionary expenditure • A freeze on all non-essen- tial recruitment and con- sultancy work • Working with suppliers to find cost savings and efficiency • Encouraging employees to take paid or unpaid leave in light of reduced flying capacity • A temporary reduction of basic salary for the major- ity of Emirates Group em- ployees for three months, ranging from 25% to 50%. Employees will contin- ue to be paid their other allowances during this time. Junior level employ- ees will be exempt from basic salary reduction • Presidents of Emirates and dnata – Sir Tim Clark and Gary Chapman – will take a 100% basic salary cut for three months The Emirates Group has strong liquidity, with a healthy cash position but it is prudent that it take steps to reduce costs at this time. Emirates remains committed to serving its markets and looks forward to resuming a normal flight schedule as soon as that is per- mitted by the relevant author- ities. Safeguarding customers, em- ployees, and communities Emirates Group closely mon- itors the situation and keeps in regular contact with all relevant authorities, so that it can im- plement the latest guidance to keep travellers and its employ- ees safe and healthy. The com- pany has strongly discouraged its employees from non-essen- tial travel, implemented work from home policies for all em- ployees where operationally feasible, enhanced cleaning and disinfection protocols at its facilities, introduced tem- perature screening at its key of- fice entry points, and launched internal educational cam- paigns on hand hygiene and health practices to reduce risk of COVID-19. Over the past weeks, the airline has also im- plemented enhanced cleaning and disinfecting measures on all of its aircraft departing Du- bai as a precaution, and worked closely with airports to imple- ment screening measures as re- quired by the local authorities. Frontline employees such as crew and airport teams have al- so been provided with support to stay safe while on duty, in- cluding providing hand sanitiz- ers and masks where required. The Emirates Group fully supports all initiatives to safe- guard the health of communi- ties in every market where it operates, including the UAE's national COVID-19 response. The Emirates Group's business response to COVID-19 EARLIER this morning, just as the sun was about to rise, 7,000 viewers experienced the annu- al Spring Equinox as seen from the Mnajdra Temples, thanks to Heritage Malta's live stream of the event which was hosted by Curator Katya Stroud. Till now, the number of visitors has increased to 27,000 and count- ing, as per the national Agency's Facebook page. This morning's event was one of Heritage Malta's many crea- tive initiatives catering for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which include virtual acces- sibility to National Museums and sites that are temporarily closed. A collaboration between Her- itage Malta and the tech-giant Google is now giving internet users the unique opportunity to virtually visit several of the Agency's National Museums and sites through the online platform Google Arts & Cul- ture - https://artsandculture. google.com. This collaboration brings our cultural sites at par with other major internation- al institutions, including the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Van Gogh Museum in Neth- erlands, the National Gallery of Arts in Washington, Mu- seo Frida Kahlo in Mexico, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and many more. Virtual tours will immerse the viewer into the solemn grounds of the Ħal Saflieni Hy- pogeum, walk you along the unique artefacts exhibited at the National Museums of Ar- chaeology in Malta and Gozo, impress you with the exquisite colourful mosaic floors at the Domvs Romana, or accompa- ny you through the turbulent times of the Second World War, at the National War Mu- seum in Fort St Elmo. Heritage Malta invites the public to open these virtual doors to amazing discover- ies, and to strive to visit them personally once the trouble is over. Heritage Malta opens virtual doors to its cultural sites