Emirates and MSC Cruises have signed an agreement at the Arabian Travel Market to expand their collaboration in the cruise-and-flight segment, with initiatives covering distribution, passenger management, crew travel, and loyalty programs.
The agreement expands a collaborative relationship of more than a decade between the Dubai-based airline and the cruise company, and includes plans to extend the distribution of fly-cruise across Emirates' network, in line with MSC Cruises' seasonal operations from different homeports.
Both companies will develop combined flight and cruise fares and open- jaw, allowing passengers to combine flights and cruises that begin and end in different destinations.
They will also analyze new access markets with the aim of identifying additional opportunities to integrate air travel and cruises.
MSC Grand Voyages and repositioning cruises are another priority area of the agreement. In this area, the partners plan to develop specific products that leverage Emirates' international network to facilitate one-way connections for passengers embarking on or completing these longer itineraries.
Emirates and MSC Cruises will also explore the possibility of relocating some of the passenger management services currently used in Port Rashid, Dubai, to other cruise ports.
Potential areas of cooperation include terminal check-in, baggage handling services to the final destination, and coordination of transfers between airports and cruise terminals.
The two companies will also develop joint protocols for managing potential incidents and repatriating passengers.
The Port Rashid model provides a foundation for greater integration between cruise and air operations, particularly for international passengers using Dubai as their cruise starting or ending point. Extending some of these services to other destinations could facilitate transfers between flights and ships, reducing the number of separate arrangements passengers must make.
Crew travel is also part of the expanded collaboration. Emirates will become one of the preferred airlines for MSC Cruises crew members during their rotations, with an agreement that includes crew-specific fares, additional baggage allowance, and services tailored to professionals traveling to and from the ships.
The agreement also includes initiatives related to customer loyalty, although the companies have not yet made public any further details about this part of the collaboration.
The agreement signed with MSC Cruises is part of several alliances announced by Emirates during Arabian Travel Market in different areas related to tourism, travel technology, business organizations and financial services.
For MSC Cruises, the new memorandum of understanding expands its existing relationship with Emirates beyond traditional fly-cruise, to also incorporate aspects related to distribution, operational coordination, crew mobility and passenger management.
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