Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1506016
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 AUGUST 2023 10 COMMERCIAL Emirates Premium Economy shines in first year of full service with over 160,000 customers trading up AFTER setting new industry benchmarks in Premium Econ- omy travel, Emirates is cele- brating a banner first year of full-service operations with the highly popular cabin class. Over 160,000 customers have traded up to fly in Emirates Premium Economy since it was introduced in August 2022, with strong de- mand momentum forecasted in the coming months. The air- line is providing travellers more opportunities to experience its highly-acclaimed Premium Economy product which is cur- rently available on flights to 11 cities, with the list growing to 13 cities by the end of the year, as more retrofitted aircraft with refreshed cabins roll into sched- uled service. Since Emirates debuted its Premium Economy Class, customer response has been overwhelmingly positive with demand exceeding expec- tations and bookings growing month on month, demonstrat- ing its appeal to a broad range of traveller segments who want to try out its understated luxury and meticulously elevated expe- rience at great value. Nearly half of customers flying in Emirates Premium Economy are solo trav- ellers venturing off for holidays, while couples and families con- stitute the other half. More than 60% of customers who booked to fly in Premium Economy in the last year were also loyal Emirates Skywards members and regular customers of the airline. Emir- ates currently flies its A380s with the latest Premium Econo- my cabins to London Heathrow, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Christchurch, Singapore, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Hou- ston, San Francisco and Dubai, with flights regularly registering full seat loads in Premium Econ- omy. The airline plans to make Premium Economy available to customers flying to/from Mum- bai and Bengaluru from 29 Oc- tober, and additional cities will be announced soon. Emirates currently operates 20 aircraft fitted with Premium Economy, 14 of which were retrofitted in-house by the Emirates Engi- neering team in Dubai over the course of the last nine months. Since August 2022, the airline has operated close to 4,500 flights with Premium Economy, traversing more than 36 million kilometres around the globe. On those flights, over 192,000 meals from its carefully curated menus which include the finest ingredients were served to cus- tomers who enjoyed regionally inspired, generously portioned dishes. Unique touches include indulgent desserts garnished with edible gold leaf, among other signature offerings. Pre- mium Economy menus are up- dated every month to ensure a diversity of flavours and dishes, especially for well-travelled cus- tomers. Over 126,000 pieces of chocolates were served to round off meals for Premium Economy customers. Emirates also served 6,700 kilograms of mixed nuts and 8,650 litres of complimen- tary fresh lemon and mint juices in Premium Economy. The air- line's robust beverage selection in Premium Economy includes a global exclusive for Emirates customers, Australian sparkling wine, Chandon Vintage Brut 2016, alongside a choice of a unique white and red wine. The airline's philosophy to constant- ly innovate and redefine service excellence through the introduc- tion of Premium Economy has earned it numerous top placings and accolades in the cabin cate- gory at the 2023 Skytrax Awards, Business Traveller awards, Air- line Ratings Excellence Awards, and 2022 Business Traveller Middle East awards. IN May, Emirates launched a global campaign with Acade- my Award winning actor and philanthropist Penelope Cruz, which also featured her enjoying the spacious seats in Premium Economy. The airline has also provided a glimpse of its Premi- um Economy offering through guided tours of the new cabin class to media and influencers, trade partners, airport, tourism and government officials across cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, Christchurch, Sin- gapore, New York JFK and San Francisco. MeDirect's tech-driven strategy delivers a €10.1 million profit after tax in the first half of 2023 MEDIRECT Bank announced a profit after tax of €10.1 million for the six months ended 30 June 2023. Whilst achieving these results, MeDirect continued to launch new products, grew its customer franchise and further expanded its specialised lending platform. These accomplishments were facilitated through MeDirect's investment in technology, which is producing tangible results for the Bank and its customers. Expanding the range of prod- ucts During the first half of 2023, MeDirect launched a range of new products. In Belgium, Me- Direct launched its MeManaged product, an online discretion- ary management service with portfolio management provided by MeDirect, using fund prod- ucts managed by BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager. In Malta, MeDirect began to offer its MeMax instant savings ac- count as well as a new Property Loan product for clients pur- chasing real estate as an invest- ment. In June, MeDirect launched its online debit card service, ena- bling customers to use their Me- Direct accounts for their daily banking needs. MeDirect's tech- nology also enabled it to stream- line its mortgage application process and to continue to im- prove its payment hub platform. Growing the MeDirect custom- er franchise MeDirect's retail franchise, focused on affluent customers, grew by 8% over the past twelve months to more than 114,000 retail clients, of whom 41,000 are wealth clients. The number of wealth clients increased by 12% over the past twelve months, and total client financial assets increased by 4.5% year over year, reaching €4.5 billion notwithstanding very challenging market and macroeconomic conditions. In mid-May, MeDirect suc- cessfully launched its wealth platform in the Netherlands, introducing its Wealth Super- App and dedicated Dutch lan- guage website and targeting customers in the Dutch market who are currently underserved by traditional banks and asset managers. This geographic expansion and continued growth of MeDirect's retail franchise demonstrates its ongoing commitment to build- ing a scalable pan-European platform, with a focus on digital wealth and banking solutions.