Emirates, Uber Pursue Strategic Partnership

Emirates is the latest airline to announce an alignment with Uber. The carrier aims to establish a strategic partnership with the ride-hailing service through a recently executed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

In the months ahead, we’ll closely work together to leverage our combined capabilities in travel and technology to expand planning options, create more connected end-to-end journeys across our network, and introduce exciting new benefits for our Skywards members.

– Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer

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As with similar efforts from other airlines, Emirates expects its loyalty program to be a large part of the link between the two companies. Earning points for rides is, of course, part of the plan. So is redemption, for app credits or ride vouchers.

Emirates also wants to extend its touch on the travel ribbon, teasing the potential for “an integrated booking experience that combines Uber Rides Vouchers with flight bookings for easier airport transfers or in-city rides.” This appears to be pushing for tighter integration beyond just requesting a ride on demand from the airline app, but details are sparse.

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The carrier says it might also simply offer Uber rides to and from the airport for select customers, “supporting a complete door-to-destination experience.” This could expand the highly popular Chauffeur Drive program for business class travelers into additional markets, with Uber handling the driver contracting. Or possibly be used for passengers in other classes of service or by status tier.

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While all these ideas are impressive, they are also not yet fully baked. The companies remain in the early stages of the work, with “Commercial, technical implementation and reward structure integrations [to] be determined in the coming months.”