If you ever fly on Emirates or virtually any other airline out of Dubai International Airport, odds are high that the delicious meal you are offered has been prepared by Emirates Flight Catering, commonly known as EKFC. For those who don’t know, this is one of the largest in-flight catering services around the world, and much more than just a catering company-it’s an unseen giant serving millions of passengers every year with premium culinary experiences. From providing exquisite fine dining to events at amazing venues, Emirates Flight Catering is the new standard in fine in-flight cuisine.

Emirates Flight Catering was formed in 2003 from its parent company, Emirates Abela Catering Company, splitting into its current entity. Since its parent company first began, envisioning to serve Emirates Airline flights, Emirates Flight Catering expanded into a world operation that currently serves more than 120 international airlines arriving and departing Dubai International Airport. Emirates Flight Catering Centre is a highly advanced facility that can produce more than 225,000 meals every day. It employs more than 11,000 people, and alone in 2017, it provided 55 million meals, producing an average of 180,000 meals for its passengers every day.

Advanced food production facilities are the keys of mass scale offered at EKFC. For its own part, the group’s flagship facility is the Emirates Flight Catering Centre at Dubai International Airport, representing one of the most sophisticated operations of its kind globally. The facility produces over 115,000 meals a day, and operates exclusively for Emirates Airline. Besides this one, it has a second facility that caters to more than 120 other international airlines. In pursuit of its aggressive expansion strategy, in 2005, EKFC established Food Point, a 10,000-square-meter production facility at Dubai Investment Park. The increase in production capacity will provide 30 million extra meals per year and is one of the companies’ key assets in terms of global food production capabilities. International Food Systems Ltd designed the facility to ensure Emirates Flight Catering could meet the culinary requirements of the airlines within and outside the region.

But catering isn’t the only business domain where Emirates Flight Catering stands tall. Besides its food factories, EKFC runs Linencraft, a vast laundry complex located in Dubai Investment Park. Since 2007 when it was upgraded, Linencraft can clean or dry clean up to 210 tons every day. This enables the airlines run by Emirates to service passengers in the best possible manner under bright, fresh-looking linens. Further securing its status as a pioneer in innovative food, Emirates Flight Catering was in the news in February 2024 for fully acquiring Emirates Bustanica, previously called Emirates Crop One. Bustanica is touted to be the world’s largest indoor vertical farm, and the sustainable farming process gives EKFC the opportunity to grow fresh ingredients 365 days a year for its meals on board. This takeover shows the commitment of EKFC towards sustainable food supply, that the company makes use of the most modern technology toward excellence in operations.

Emirates Flight Catering has brought not just excellence in operations but also offered a forward-looking sustainability approach. In this acquisition, Bustanica takes into account the minimizing of environmental impact on the overall food production process. This indoor vertical farm grows fresh produce utilizing 95% less water as compared to traditional farming methods and delivers EKFC a range of high-quality ingredients to ensure nutritious and flavoursome meals for its passengers. EKFC has significantly invested in energy-efficient infrastructure. Emirates Flight Catering thus acts towards creating a greener future both for aviation and the food industry through the usage of advanced technologies that are used to optimize food production and efficient waste management.

Another reason behind the success of EKFC is that it adheres to be watchful and attentive to the diverse requirements for food by passengers. Here, the choices for meals range from the traditional Emirati to vegetarian and gluten-free, and all the passengers are assured of enjoying a quality meal suited to their choice. Again, it is robust on the issues of food safety and quality control, and hence, it takes maximum care towards that aspect to ensure quality meals for all the passengers.

Dubailand was formally announced on October 23, 2003, by Tatweer, a subsidiary of Dubai Holding. The plans consisted of an area of 278 square kilometres with 45 mega-projects and 200 sub-projects. These were to be implemented for turning the emirate into an international tourism center. The six worlds of Dubailand were set up to cater for different experiences and enjoyments: Attractions and Experience World, Sports and Outdoor World, Eco-Tourism World, Themed Leisure and Vacation World, Retail and Entertainment World, and Downtown Dubailand.

All these areas were supposed to accommodate a variety of amusement, including theme parks, hotels, residential places, and shopping malls. For this purpose, the central part of Dubailand was supposed to meet the needs of several varied audiences, such as families who would be visiting to have their share of fun in the theme parks, adventure and ecotourism enthusiasts, and so on.

Dubailand received a severe blow when, on account of its ambitious timing and construction, it suffered crucial hits from the global financial crisis of 2007–2008. The Great Recession in tandem with the crash of Dubai’s housing market in 2009 suspended nearly all of the under-construction projects. Most of the investors withdrew, and most of the sub-projects either went pending or into cold storage. Some of the largest theme park collaborations, including Six Flags and Marvel, were shelved indefinitely, which was a crushing blow to the early phase of the Dubailand vision. All this while, more than $55 billion had been raised toward its development, but the project was not faring well. Most key investors had lost interest by 2012, and the project was taken over by Dubai Properties Group from Tatweer for continued development on residential communities, such as the Mudon project.

It seems that 2013 was the year when, after years of stagnation, a semblance of momentum seemed to be regained for this Dubailand. The opening of Dubai Miracle Garden in March 2013 marked a restart in the comeback story of Dubailand. This stunning floral attraction soon became one of Dubai’s iconic tourist attractions, attracting millions of visitors around the year with its incredible spread of more than 72,000 square meters. Just adjacent to it, the Dubai Butterfly Garden, opened in 2015, accelerated the already started popularity of the area. Major attractions were opened in 2016, such as Legoland Dubai and Motiongate Dubai, almost 35 kilometres from Dubailand, with rides and experiences based on DreamWorks themes. These developments revitalized the entertainment sector in the area, bringing Dubai one step closer to what it had envisioned for Dubailand.

In spite of all the delays and setbacks, Dubailand remains one of the biggest entertainment districts to continue growing in the years to come. Many high-profile projects are scheduled for completion by 2025 that might make it the entertainment powerhouse it was envisioned to be in the first place. Dubailand’s future may consist of large attractions, residential developments, and eco-tourism destinations.

As Dubai Solidifies its Claim as the Place of Innovations and Tourism, Dubailand will be the Ultimate Controller of the Entertainment and Enjoyments of the City. So something like the Dubai Miracle Garden and the surrounding parks is a glimpse of the big vision that sparked the project and how even financial crises can only make Dubai’s ambition go on the back foot but cannot stop it.

Dubai’s landscape is in constant change. At the heart of this change lies the City of Arabia: An ambitious, $20-billion mixed-use development promising to redefine urban living. The city is located on the gateway of Dubailand as a self-contained community that merges retail, entertainment, residential, and commercial spaces into one. Mega malls, iconic towers, and one-of-a-kind attractions-to name but a few-will characterize this futuristic development meant to be an important destination in Dubai, attracting residents and tourists alike.

Its part of the grand Dubailand development: Envisioned as Dubai’s answer to world-class entertainment and residential communities. Led by the Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group, this development is one step closer to making everything accessible with a car-free, modern environment. City of Arabia also boasts its monorail system interconnecting into the Dubai Metro. The overall strategy for the development involves an effective balance between the residential, commercial, and entertainment offerings. After being constructed, the city will accommodate 32,800 residents, of whom 8,200 residential units form luxury accommodating features. The residential areas fall within a large catchment area that accommodates 1.87 million people, and hence City of Arabia has to be an active city.

The Mall of Arabia, located at the heart of City of Arabia, is likely to be among the largest shopping malls in the world. A world-class, all-around mall that offers an experience like no other, with tremendous variety of international brands, luxury boutiques, eating options, and entertainment facilities; Al Mall of Arabia also offers much more than mere shopping; it is an entertainment destination in itself. The size and scale of the mall are going to compete with other malls across the world, which is yet another affirmation of Dubai as a global retail capital. The other monumental attraction within the City of Arabia is IMG Worlds of Adventure, being an indoor theme park with 1.5 million square foot area. The destination will also be home to the world’s largest indoor theme park and boasts a wide array of rides, attractions, and themed areas based on market leaders like Marvel, Cartoon Network, and dinosaurs. Focusing on immersive experiences, IMG Worlds of Adventure is likely to delight people of all ages, making it the perfect family destination and an integral part of City of Arabia’s entertainment offering.

Wadi Walk will offer a beautiful waterfront lifestyle that blends modern urban living with a sense of serenity for its residents. Fitted with stylishly designed apartments along scenic waterways, this community will stand as an oasis of peace in the midst of the bustling city. Outdoor cafes and retail outlets will be available along waterfront areas to residents and visitors alike to dine al fresco and stroll for leisure. It is designed in such a way that it combines a healthy lifestyle with modern facilities and the beauty of nature.

These Elite Towers represent 34 dramatic commercial and residential towers marking the Skyline of City of Arabia. They will be business centres of luxury living spaces, attracting numerous businesses and investors from all over the world. The style and design embody a sense of futurism while opening up panoramic views of surroundings for all residents.

Perhaps one of the attractions unique to the City of Arabia would be a theme park entitled Restless Planet, an experience that brings to life the dawning of prehistoric man and offers its visitors the potential to experience the environments and the creatures of that time, including animatronic dinosaurs and other species that lived during the Mesozoic. Such an educational concept of entertainment would attract children and adults alike on an unforgettable journey through times past. In sync with Dubai’s overall focus on sustainability, City of Arabia has managed to minimize the use of cars, thereby emerging as one of the city’s most sustainable communities. The pedestrian-friendly design that makes easy movements within the city as well as smooth connectivity to the bigger Dubai Metro network has further aided the monorail system. Not only does this innovative transportation solution reduce traffic but also forms part of the commitment the city has towards making itself carbon footprint free.

The Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group is the guiding force of this mega development, working closely in association with the Dubai Tourism Development Company, part of Dubai Holding. SM Syed Khalil, executive director of the Ilyas and Mustafa Galadari Group, oversees the entire project.