Emirates has reported stronger-than-expected summer performance and robust forward bookings for the winter travel season as the airline continues expanding its network, upgrading its fleet and investing in customer experience.

The Dubai-based carrier transported more than 8.6 million passengers during July and August, while operating at around 93 per cent of its pre-disruption capacity. The airline said healthy seat load factors across its network and positive booking trends have positioned it for continued growth heading into winter.

Demand is currently tracking ahead of last year in several key markets, including South Africa, Brazil, India, Portugal, Egypt, Ghana, Colombia, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The airline also cited strong demand for Nepal through its partnership with flydubai, while the UAE remains a resilient outbound market and premium cabin demand continues to grow.

Emirates said routes across West Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas recorded seat load factors above 75 per cent during the summer, with particularly strong performance on services to Indonesia, Côte d’Ivoire and the UK.

Dubai also maintained strong inbound tourism demand. During the final weeks of August, more than 500,000 passengers arrived in Dubai on Emirates flights, representing a 7 per cent increase compared with the same period last year. The airline said travellers included returning residents, new expatriates relocating to Dubai and leisure visitors.

The airline attributed part of the demand to enhanced customer offerings introduced over the summer, including free date changes across its network, unlimited free date changes for Dubai bookings, lower refund fees on Dubai journeys and a new Comprehensive Travel Cover policy that includes protection against conflict-related disruptions and airspace closures.

Emirates also continues to expand its fleet and onboard products. Since January, it has taken delivery of 18 aircraft, including 11 Airbus A350s and seven Boeing 777 freighters, with another six A350s scheduled before year-end.

The airline has now completed retrofits on 104 aircraft, bringing the number of aircraft featuring its latest cabin products and Premium Economy to 137. That figure is expected to rise to 155 by the end of December.

Premium Economy is currently available on 90 destinations, with additional routes, including Paris, Delhi and Stockholm, set to receive the product later this year. Emirates has also fitted almost 50 aircraft with Starlink high-speed inflight internet as part of its fleet modernisation programme.

Looking ahead, Emirates will launch services to Helsinki on 1 October using the Airbus A350, while increasing frequencies to Accra, Tokyo Narita, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. One of its daily Delhi services will also be upgraded to the Airbus A380.

The airline will deploy the A350 to Larnaca, Malta, Nairobi and Hamburg from late October, followed by Mauritius in November, while retrofitted Boeing 777 aircraft will enter service on Stockholm and Frankfurt routes.

Beyond its own network, Emirates said its 168 codeshare, interline and intermodal partnerships provide customers with access to more than 1,750 additional cities worldwide. Its partnership with flydubai now offers travellers access to more than 214 destinations across over 100 countries and has carried more than 28 million passengers since launching in 2017.

flydubai has restored operations to 85 per cent of its network as the Dubai-based carrier continues to expand capacity and launch new routes in response to resilient travel demand.

The airline now serves more than 125 destinations across 56 countries, reflecting the gradual recovery of operations and continued investment in network growth despite a challenging operating environment.

Over recent months, flydubai has resumed and launched services to several destinations, including Aleppo, Benghazi and Bangkok. The carrier has also increased services to Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport (DMK) from one to three daily non-stop flights, citing strong demand for travel between Thailand, Dubai and onward destinations.

The airline will further strengthen its South Asia network on 23 September with the launch of flights to Pokhara, becoming its second destination in Nepal after Kathmandu and expanding travel, tourism and trade links through Dubai.

Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer of flydubai, said: “The last few months have demonstrated the strength and agility of our business model and the utmost confidence we have in Dubai’s resilience. Despite the challenging operating environment, we have remained focused on restoring our network safely and efficiently, adding capacity where we see demand while opening new markets.”

He added that strong customer demand over the summer and improving market conditions have positioned the airline to continue restoring its network and support growing travel, trade and tourism flows through Dubai.

The carrier said forward bookings remain encouraging ahead of the winter travel season, with continued demand from both leisure travellers and those visiting friends and relatives.

During the summer, flydubai operated services to 11 seasonal destinations, including Bodrum, Corfu, Mykonos, Santorini and Tivat, which remained among the most popular routes for passengers travelling from or through Dubai.

The airline also highlighted the strength of its partnership with Emirates, with the combined network offering access to more than 214 destinations in over 100 countries and generating more than 4,600 connection opportunities through Dubai.

Hamad Obaidalla, chief commercial officer at flydubai, said the airline continues to add capacity on year-round routes, including Almaty, Bishkek and Tashkent, while the introduction of triple-daily Bangkok flights from November reflects sustained demand across both leisure and business travel.

He added that flydubai currently operates around 2,200 weekly flights and plans to increase frequencies further as additional aircraft join its fleet, supporting the full recovery of operations at Dubai International Airport (DXB).

As healthcare systems across Africa, the Middle East and Turkey undergo a fundamental shift towards prevention, self-care is moving from a consumer trend to a strategic pillar of modern healthcare. Rising healthcare costs, changing demographics, growing consumer awareness and increasing pressure on health systems are creating new opportunities for companies that can expand access to trusted, science-based solutions. For Opella, these trends are reshaping both the healthcare landscape and the company’s growth ambitions across the region.

Now in its second year as an independent company, Opella is leveraging its global scale, healthcare expertise and portfolio of more than 100 brands to strengthen its position in the rapidly evolving self-care market. The Africa, Middle East and Turkey region is central to that strategy, offering significant growth potential while presenting a diverse set of market dynamics. From strengthening supply chains and local manufacturing capabilities to investing in health literacy, pharmacist education and digital engagement, Opella is looking beyond product availability to play a broader role in the region’s healthcare ecosystem.

In this interview, Feirouz Ellouze, GM for Africa, the Middle East and Turkey at Opella, discusses the business opportunities emerging from the region’s shift towards preventive healthcare and greater consumer empowerment. She shares her perspective on Opella’s growth strategy, the evolving role of self-care, the importance of local capabilities and partnerships, and the company’s Health³ sustainability agenda. She also outlines her long-term vision for positioning Opella as a leading partner in building more accessible, resilient and sustainable healthcare systems across AMET.

Opella recently celebrated its first year as an independent company. Can you introduce our readers to Opella and what sets it apart?

Opella is a global self-care company with a simple but ambitious mission: to put health in people’s hands by making self-care as simple as it should be. While we became an independent company in 2025, we build on decades of scientific expertise and a globally trusted healthcare heritage. Today, we are the world’s third-largest player in the over-the-counter (OTC) and vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) categories, serving around half a billion consumers through a portfolio of more than 100 brands globally.

What truly differentiates Opella is our belief that better health begins by empowering people to take a more active role in managing their everyday wellbeing. As healthcare systems continue to evolve, self-care is becoming an increasingly important part of the solution helping to expand access, support prevention, and build more resilient and sustainable healthcare systems. Everything we do is guided by one clear ambition: to make self-care more accessible to people, wherever they live.

Africa, the Middle East and Turkey are incredibly diverse markets. How important is the region to Opella’s long-term growth strategy?

The Africa, Middle East and Turkey (AMET) zone is strategically important to Opella because it brings together some of the world’s fastest-growing populations, rapidly evolving healthcare systems and a growing demand for accessible, high-quality self-care solutions.

Across the region, governments are making significant investments in prevention, health literacy and more sustainable healthcare systems. These priorities align closely with Opella’s purpose, creating a strong opportunity to expand access to effective self-care solutions while supporting national health priorities and improving long-term health outcomes. Saudi Arabia is an excellent example. The kingdom’s Health Sector Transformation Program under Vision 2030 is placing greater emphasis on prevention, patient empowerment and enhancing healthcare outcomes, creating strong momentum for self-care. Across Africa, meanwhile, growing populations and expanding healthcare access reinforce the importance of resilient local manufacturing and reliable supply chains.

At present, our operations are primarily dedicated to ensuring a reliable and uninterrupted supply of our products to consumers across the region. This commitment is supported by a resilient and agile manufacturing and distribution network designed to meet growing consumer healthcare needs while maintaining the highest standards of quality and compliance.

By partnering with trusted local manufacturing organisations across key markets, we are able to enhance supply security, improve responsiveness to market demand, strengthen business continuity, and create a more efficient and sustainable operating model. At Opella, our role extends beyond supplying products. We work closely with healthcare professionals, distributors, policymakers and other stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to improve health literacy, strengthen access to self-care and empower people to make informed decisions about managing their health.

Self-care has become one of the defining trends in modern healthcare. Why do you believe it is becoming increasingly relevant and important in today’s world?

Healthcare systems everywhere are facing similar challenges today; ageing populations, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, growing consumer expectations, and rising pressure on healthcare resources. Self-care has an important role to play in addressing all these challenges. The market’s growth trend is also indicative of the rising awareness and importance of self-care among consumers. According to Euromonitor data, the global vitamins, minerals, and supplements (VMS) market has reached a value of $39.9bn, while the total global consumer healthcare market is estimated at $337.9bn. The VMS category is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.3 per cent during the 2025-2030 period.

We see self-care as empowering people to confidently manage everyday health conditions using trusted, science-based solutions, while ensuring healthcare professionals can dedicate more time to patients with more complex medical needs. Importantly though, self-care is not about replacing healthcare professionals. It is about complementing healthcare systems through greater collaboration between consumers, pharmacists, physicians and healthcare providers.

The wider societal benefits associated with self-care are also becoming increasingly more evident. According to research from the Global Self-Care Federation, there remains up to 50 per cent additional potential for self-care to be unlocked by 2040. Realising this opportunity could save an estimated 13 billion hours of individual time, 2.2 billion hours of physician time each year and generate approximately $144bn in healthcare system savings.[1] These figures demonstrate that self-care is no longer simply a consumer trend, it is becoming a key pillar of sustainable healthcare systems.

Sustainability is another area where Opella has recently made significant progress with the launch of Health³. What does this new strategy represent?

Health³ represents the next evolution of how Opella approaches sustainability. It reflects our belief that healthier people, a healthier planet and a healthier business are fundamentally interconnected. Rather than treating these priorities separately, Health³ recognises that the greatest impact comes from advancing all three together. The launch builds on strong progress already achieved. In 2025, Opella exceeded all its sustainability targets, including achieving 100 per cent renewable electricity across operations, ensuring eligible manufacturing sites became landfill-free, sourcing all paper-based consumer packaging from certified sources, and reaching 238 million people through health awareness and responsible medicine use initiatives.

Looking ahead, our ambitions are even greater. We are currently working towards net-zero emissions by 2050, with science-based targets already validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

At the same time, we aim to improve health literacy for 50 million people annually and train 200,000 pharmacists by 2030, recognising the vital role pharmacists play in enabling responsible self-care.

Sustainability is not simply an environmental commitment for Opella, it is central to how we create long-term value for patients, consumers, communities and healthcare systems.

As the GM for Africa, Middle East and Turkey, what opportunities excite you most over the coming years?

This region is characterised by extraordinary diversity, but there is one common theme across almost every market: healthcare is becoming increasingly proactive rather than reactive.

Consumers today want greater ownership of their health. At the same time, governments are prioritising prevention and health literacy, while healthcare professionals are increasingly recognising the role self-care can play in improving outcomes. Together, these trends create major opportunities to improve healthcare in meaningful ways.

At Opella, we will continue to invest in innovation, expand access to efficient self-care solutions, and develop local capabilities wherever we operate. We also see considerable opportunity to further strengthen manufacturing, digital engagement and pharmacist education as demand for self-care continues to grow across the region.

Ultimately, our ambition is to help build healthier, more informed and more empowered communities while contributing to stronger and more sustainable healthcare systems.

Looking towards the future, what is your long-term vision for Opella across Africa, the Middle East and Turkey?

Our vision is to establish Opella as the region’s leading partner in advancing self-care. For us, success goes beyond commercial growth. It is measured by our ability to empower people to manage their everyday health with greater confidence, support stronger healthcare systems through prevention and education, and create lasting value for society.

The AMET zone represents tremendous opportunity, and we remain deeply committed to investing in its future. Whether by expanding access to trusted self-care solutions, strengthening local manufacturing capabilities, advancing sustainability through our Health³ strategy, or fostering partnerships across the healthcare ecosystem, our ambition remains the same: to put health in people’s hands, build more resilient healthcare systems, and help create healthier communities for generations to come.

The UAE could see above-average rainfall as the El Niño climate pattern strengthens across the Pacific, although the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) said the phenomenon does not directly affect the UAE.

The NCM issued the clarification after claims circulated on social media about severe weather impacts, including forecasts of flooding and unusually heavy rainfall in the UAE.

The centre said El Niño’s direct effects are concentrated in the Pacific Ocean, while its influence on the UAE is indirect.

A WAM report cited the NCM as saying that the climate pattern can bring drought to some parts of the world while producing above-average rainfall in others.

For the UAE, that broader pattern could translate into more rainfall than usual, although the actual intensity of rainfall will depend on prevailing weather conditions.

UAE impact remains indirect

The NCM said El Niño is particularly strong this year and can be an indicator of increased rainfall in the UAE. However, heavier rainfall would occur only when other suitable atmospheric and weather conditions are present.

That distinction is important as forecasts and social media reports about the phenomenon continue to circulate. El Niño is a natural climate pattern that develops periodically when sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific become unusually warm.

Those changes can influence atmospheric circulation and, in turn, alter rainfall and temperature patterns in regions far from the Pacific.

The NCM said weather conditions in the UAE remain stable and are being monitored closely.

The centre also said it monitors regional and global weather patterns around the clock and would issue advance announcements through its official channels if a significant weather event were expected. Such announcements would include the relevant reports and warnings, it said.

Global weather risks rise

The UAE clarification comes as international forecasters warn that the current El Niño event is intensifying and could remain in place well into 2027.

A World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) forecast published on September 4 said El Niño is strengthening rapidly and is expected to become “very strong”, with its peak projected around the end of the year.

The WMO put the probability of the phenomenon continuing through February 2027 at close to 100 per cent.

El Niño can contribute to a range of weather extremes around the world, including periods of extreme heat, drought and flooding, depending on the region.

The current event is also developing while global ocean temperatures remain unusually high. WMO data showed that temperatures below the surface of parts of the tropical Pacific were more than 8°C above normal in July and early August.

The warming has also been reflected in the Niño 3.4 index, a key measure used to track El Niño conditions. The index averaged 1.5°C above normal between May and July and reached 2°C in July, while weekly readings later climbed as high as 2.6°C.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the development as a major climate concern, saying, “El Niño is being supersized before our eyes.”

NCM urges reliance on official forecasts

While El Niño can influence weather patterns across large parts of the world, the NCM’s message was that its presence alone should not be treated as a forecast of flooding or severe weather in the UAE.

The centre urged members of the public and media organisations to verify weather information before sharing it and to avoid circulating unconfirmed claims.

It said official forecasts and warnings should remain the primary source for information about significant weather developments in the UAE.

For now, the NCM said conditions remain stable, while monitoring continues as the global climate pattern develops.

Indonesian authorities have launched a large-scale search and rescue operation after a passenger ferry capsized in the Java Sea, leaving at least six people dead and 129 others missing in one of the country’s deadliest maritime disasters this year.

According to Reuters, the vessel, Virgo Transport 8, was carrying 243 people, including 213 passengers and 30 crew members, when it encountered severe weather while travelling from Surabaya in East Java to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan. The ferry lost contact with its operator before capsizing amid waves reaching up to three metres and strong winds.

As of Monday, rescue teams had saved 108 people, while six fatalities had been confirmed. More than 600 personnel, supported by the Indonesian navy, coastguard, 17 vessels, five helicopters and underwater rescue teams, have been deployed to search for survivors despite rough sea conditions that continue to hamper operations.

Indonesia’s Transport Ministry (X account @kemenhub151) is said investigators are working to determine whether the incident was caused by weather, technical failures or human factors. Officials noted that the ferry’s certified capacity exceeded 500 passengers, suggesting overloading was not an immediate factor in the accident, Reuters further stated.

The disaster has once again highlighted longstanding concerns over maritime safety in Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago with more than 17,000 islands, where ferries serve as a critical transport link for passengers, vehicles and freight. Despite their importance to domestic connectivity and regional commerce, ferry accidents remain relatively common due to inconsistent enforcement of safety regulations and challenging weather conditions.

Families of missing passengers have gathered at ports in South Kalimantan awaiting updates as rescue operations continue. Authorities said the search will remain focused on the area surrounding the vessel’s last known position until all passengers have been accounted for.