Emirates Airlines Special Assistance

Last updated: 31 October 2026.

Emirates gives help to travellers with a disability or reduced mobility, to expectant mothers and to children flying without a parent. This page covers those three groups.

Wheelchair and mobility help

• A wheelchair can be arranged at each airport Emirates serves. Request it during booking, or two days before the flight at the latest, via Manage Booking or an Emirates office near you.
• Help runs from the drop-off point at the terminal to the aircraft, and from the aircraft to the pick-up point on arrival.
• At Dubai Terminal 3 you can collect an airport wheelchair at the Assistance Desk inside Departures Entrance 2, the Assisted Services counter by check-in area 2, or the Arrivals counter at Exit 3 by the metro.
• Staff can guide passengers with sight or hearing loss, and help with hidden disabilities. Say what you need when you book.

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Bringing your own chair or aid

• Medical equipment and as many as two mobility aids (a folding manual wheelchair, for example) may come into the cabin and are not counted in your cabin baggage allowance. Emirates first confirms there is room and a safe place to stow them; if not, they go in the hold.
• Aids that are checked must be packed properly. Staff inspect them and note any damage already there. On arrival Emirates tries to return the aid to the aircraft door where local rules allow; otherwise a wheelchair waits for you and you collect your own in the baggage hall.
• Check that your aid fits through the cargo door of your aircraft: A350-900, 114.5 x 69 in (2.91 x 1.76 m); A380-800, 122.4 x 68 in (2.83 x 1.72 m); Boeing 777-200LR and 777-300ER, 101.9 x 67 in (2.69 x 1.70 m). Your aircraft type shows in Manage Booking and can change.
• Electric wheelchairs: Emirates needs to know the battery type, the chair's size and its weight ahead of the flight, because certain batteries fall under extra safety rules. Arrive three hours before departure.
• On journeys with another airline, contact that airline for its own assistance and size limits.

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Guide and service dogs

• Certain service animals can fly in the cabin on conditions. Your local Emirates branch has the details.
• For US flights, fill in the US Transportation Department's service animal transport form (adding its relief attestation form when the flight tops eight hours) and submit them to Emirates for approval. Dogs entering the US also need the CDC Dog Import Form and must meet its health and vaccination rules.
• For Dubai, papers go to the UAE climate and environment ministry four working days or more ahead of departure: a vet certificate, rabies titre test, vaccination records, an import permit and fee receipts. The booking is confirmed only after validation.

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When medical clearance is needed

• A serious medical condition, or a need for help while travelling, can call for a Medical Information Form (MEDIF). The doctor's section should reflect your condition within a month of travel.
• Always carry prescription medicine in the cabin with your prescription. Emirates cannot keep medicine cold, so bring an insulated pouch; crew can supply ice.

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Pregnancy

Up to the end of week 28

Book and fly as normal

Week 29 to the end of week 36, single pregnancy

Bring a certificate signed by a doctor or midwife. From week 37 you cannot fly.

Week 29 to the end of week 32, twins or more

A signed medical certificate is needed. Travel is not allowed from week 33.

Complicated pregnancy, any stage

Seek medical clearance with a MEDIF, with the doctor's part filled in within a month of travel and the form sent two days before the flight

Flights to or from Colombia

Certificate or MEDIF required from 30 weeks and 1 day, issued within ten days of the flight

• The certificate should say if the pregnancy is single or multiple, uncomplicated, give the due date and the final day you are expected to be fit to fly, and confirm good health and no obstacle to flying.
• Without the certificate you may be refused boarding. Some countries limit entry for non-national pregnant women, so check with the embassy, and carry travel insurance that covers early labour abroad.
• Porters and baggage delivery are available at Dubai International for heavy lifting.

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Children travelling alone

5 to 11

Unaccompanied Minors service, booked through Emirates. The adult fare is charged. The same fare rule holds when the child is with another child under 16, who cannot act as guardian, or sits in a different cabin from the parent (though then the child counts as accompanied and has no access to the children's lounge or special services).

12 to 15

Already on adult fares and allowed to fly alone. An optional supervised service is USD 50 per young passenger on each leg.

• Emirates staff look after the child from check-in to handover with the person meeting them.
• The parent or guardian signs a Declaration of Indemnity form, available at Emirates airport offices, and waits in the terminal until take-off. The person collecting the child must show identification.
• Connections: no more than four hours when changing to another airline, and eight hours when changing in Dubai.
• Children under 16 cannot fly alone on journeys that need an overnight stop or a transfer between airports unless an adult guardian meets them at the transit point.
• The service is on Emirates' own flights only. Check partner airlines for their rules.
• Canada: Air Canada takes no unaccompanied minors from other carriers, so the service ends at Toronto, where a parent or guardian meets the child. When the child flies with an adult who is not the legal guardian, a signed consent letter is advised.
• French minors leaving France need an official exit authorisation with a copy of the signing parent's ID; Spanish minors under 18 travelling without a parent or guardian need a signed travel permit.
• A child who needs special assistance must travel with a fare-paying guardian older than 16.

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Questions travellers ask us

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Baggage Allowance is an independent information site and is not part of Emirates. Check the airline's own pages before you travel.