Over 120 different nationalities represent the flight attendants that work for the World’s Best Airline, Emirates. It’s a truly cosmopolitan and multinational workforce and Emirates is quite rightly proud of this diversity.
On a typical Emirates flight, you’ll find at least 12 nationalities of cabin crew speaking between 10 to 17 languages among them.
However, one question often quickly arises: What countries are the most represented as cabin crew at Emirates? If 120 nationalities are represented, which country’s citizens are you most likely to find serving you?
The exact figures in terms of percentages aren’t released by Emirates but the Top 5 cabin crew nationalities are well known.
The Top 5 Cabin Crew Nationalities at Emirates
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- Egypt
- Philippines
- India
There are some obvious reasons and motives why this is the case.
The British contingent of cabin crew is a good example. Brits have always been a popular choice of crew for Emirates. This is partly down to the UAE’s heavy use of British expats who have helped turn Dubai into the megalopolis that it is today.
And the UK is a huge destination for Emirates. Sixteen flights operate daily to UK cities with a total capacity of 8,344 potential passengers every day.
Indian staff also make up a sizeable chunk of Emirates cabin crew. And for good reason. It is believed that the Indian sub-continent is the largest market for passenger numbers and the biggest revenue generator for Emirates.
Yet despite the cultural diversity within Emirates, a huge concern for wannabe crew is whether Emirates discriminate against certain nationalities.
Like many airlines, Emirates chooses staff based on specific needs. As Emirates expanded into Nordic countries in 2012 the airline reached out to Scandinavian applicants. Although success was initially limited the airline eventually managed to fill enough positions with crew who were representative of the region.
At present Emirates has put a stop to all cabin crew recruitment. But when the hiring process resumes it is believed that wannabe Filipino applicants will find it a lot harder to secure a job with the airline. This has been put down to the high number of Filipinos already at the company.
In recent times Filipino crew have been chosen to fill Cabin Service Attendant positions (a dedicated member of crew who looks after the luxe First Class shower and toilet onboard Emirates A380 jets) – sometimes when the applicant thought they were being hired as a fully fledged flight attendant.
However, it should be noted that this is an unsubstantiated rumour and there is no evidence to suggest that Emirates favours any nationality above another.
