11 May 2026
Emirates has successfully arranged bespoke Emirates Travel Rehearsals across more than 40 cities in the past year, including Dublin.
With more than 250 families in attendance, Emirates Travel Rehearsals are designed to support children and young adults with autism, allowing them to practice the journey through the airport to prepare for real flights.
After initial Emirates Travel Rehearsals in Dubai resulted in positive feedback from families, schools and autism organisations; the Emirates Office of Accessibility & Inclusion formulated the travel rehearsal into an official programme, to be rolled out across its global network.
More than 35,000 Emirates staff have been trained to support customers with autism and can help facilitate travel, and Travel Rehearsals.
Emirates Travel Rehearsals are a purposeful community collaboration and learning exercise arranged by Emirates, with the support of international airport teams, Border Control and Security teams, and schools and centres for autism based all around the world. The travel rehearsals including practicing the actions of checking in, dropping baggage, going through immigration and security, and experiencing the hustle and bustle of retail and dining areas. While familiarising themselves with the airport, participants are also issued mock boarding passes and given the chance to meet the many uniformed staff encountered along the way. In some airports, Emirates’ teams managed to arrange access to real aircraft for the children and young adults.
