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Enacy Mapakame Business Reporter

Emirates airline has come up with incentives to help increase passenger volumes, including Covid-19 insurance cover, as the global airline grapples with the effects of the second wave of the pandemic.

“Bookings have to be made between 11 and 25 January 2021, for travel between 11 January and 15 June 2021,” Emirates said in a statement this week.

In addition to Covid-19 insurance cover, the package also has provisions for personal accidents during travel, winter sports cover, loss of personal belongings, and trip disruptions due to unexpected air space closure, travel recommendations or advisories, similar to other multi-risk travel insurance products.

“Emirates customers can travel with peace of mind with the airline’s flexible booking options and multi-risk travel insurance including Covid-19 cover with every flight,” it said.

It added Zimbabweans can take advantage of the special package to travel to Dubai, Lusaka, London, Malé and Karachi for both business and economy classes.

Global aviation industry has been badly affected after countries imposed travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which was first detected in December 2019 in China.

The second wave is putting more pressure on the already struggling sector.

Slow virus containment, travel restrictions and general low consumer spending are among the factors weighing the recovery of the travel and tourism sector, according a survey by The United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

Earlier, experts projected the travel and tourism market would expand between 2021 to 2024 on the back of rapid urbanisation, increasing spending of middle-class population and rise in travel by millennial population.

However, the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic are likely to slow down the recovery of the industry.

International industry experts believe big global airlines may merge to consolidate costs as the slog from the depths of the coronavirus pandemic stretches on.