Having tripled Skywards’ membership base to 35 million since 2015, Emirates is now focusing on enhancing member engagement. As a result, the growth rate for active members is now twice the rate of growth of the member base in general.

At Aviation Festival Asia, Dr Nejib Ben-Khedher, Divisional Senior Vice President, Skywards shared the airline’s strategy for driving ongoing engagement with both new and existing users.

Discussing driving engagement with the next generation of travellers, Ben-Khedher explained:

“A lot of people are talking about the new generation being very fickle, not so loyal, with a limited attention span, and not as loyal to brands. The reality is that if you do the right thing in terms of engaging with them, such as through personalisation, relevance to their context, or gamification, you can still bring them over and keep them engaged. We do this through some of our platforms […] offering experiential and emotional loyalty. By doing the right thing, you can keep them engaged and loyal to your brand.”

Ben-Khedher also discussed how Emirates Skywards is marrying flexibility with loyalty through partnerships. Here, he highlighted the airline’s new partnership with Garuda Indonesia, inked onsite at Aviation Festival Asia, as an example of giving passengers more options whilst retaining their loyalty.

Underscoring the importance of catering to all generations of travellers he added:

“There’s also a big segment of baby boomers as well, who we need to to to keep also engaged. They’re very important, they’re people who have been loyal for us for years and years, and to whom we have to to cater as as well. So for me, the program has to be very global in nature. As I mentioned, 93 per cent of our member base is outside the UAE so we need to be global and we need to cater to all the segments as well.”

Watch the full interview below to learn more and join us at AFA 2026.

 

Questions asked include:

  • When it comes to loyalty, keeping users engaged is arguably as important as growing membership. How does Emirates Skywards ensure ongoing engagement with new and existing users?​
  • In many regions, passengers are opting for flexibility over airline loyalty. How can you pre-empt changing expectations to establish meaningful relationships with members?​
  • What do airlines need to do differently to cater to new generations?

 

 

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