Emirates Skywards Chief Shares Six Airline Loyalty Lessons

13.07.2024 - 14:29 / skift.com

Emirates flies almost a million passengers every week, making it one of the world’s largest international airlines. As part of this, its Skywards program aims to boost loyalty to the brand, converting first-time customers into Emirates devotees. 

The scheme has seen its membership base triple in the last nine years. It currently has around 35 million members, of which five million have made a transaction in the past 12 months. 

Alongside its UAE home, the U.S, U.K, India, and Australia are the other top markets for the platform. Leading the program is Dr. Nejib Ben-Khedher. Speaking to in a wide-ranging interview, he shares some of the secrets of Skywards’ recent success. 

Last year, Emirates launched free inflight app messaging for all passengers who have a Skywards membership number on their boarding pass. Unlimited free Wi-Fi is also available to Skywards guests who have higher loyalty status and those traveling in premium cabins. 

According to Ben-Khedher, the roll-out of free connectivity has led to thousands of new enrollments, making it one of the carrier’s top channels for acquiring new members.

He is a particular fan of this approach as everyone signing up is already flying with the airline, making them immediate active members of the program.  

Ben-Khedher has big ambitions for Skywards, and talks of its evolution from a fairly linear platform into a much more diverse offering. “When we started this transformation in 2015, we wanted to go into the whole lifestyle category and become much more than just ‘earning and burning’ [points] on flights.

“Today, the burn continues to be mostly on flights, with 80% of the miles redeemed this way, with upgrades the most sought-after. But the earning proposition now has a mix of 60% on flights and 40% via partners worldwide.”

To support this ambition, Skywards has built an ecosystem of retail partners. These look beyond more traditional tie-ups with financial organizations. For instance, shopping at Dubai Mall is one of the most popular non-flying ways to earn miles. The company has also built a platform to award miles on daily spending with a dedicated app called Skywards Everyday.

Skywards is working to allow people to engage with their miles more easily. Ben-Khedher explains that 12 percent of people who fly on Emirates have used their miles in some form for that flight.

One of the airline’s newer redemption methods is a ‘Cash Plus Miles’ option. Earlier this year it was introduced on ancillary services such as preferred seating, checked bags, and lounge access. 

Last month, the company also reduced the pricing on economy class rewards.“We want to accelerate the flywheel of earning and burning, so people don’t wait long before they can see a