Emirates adopts 'Verified by Visa' to boost e-bookings

Notes and media contacts

About Verified by Visa: The programme was first introduced globally in November 2001 supported by the implementation of 3D Secure technology for online shopping and named Verified by Visa (VbyV). Merchants adopting VbyV can now authenticate the cardholder's identity through a consumer password (PIN) provided by the issuing bank. The bank notifies the e-merchant through Visa in real time that the buyer is the actual cardholder, thus reducing the number of disputed transactions. Consumers too can safely make e-payments knowing the merchant is legitimate and thus further eliminating fraud.

Visa's 3D Secure technology has been adopted by MasterCard and JCB and is now a global standard for e-shopping.

About Visa: Visa is the world's leading payment brand generating nearly US$3 trillion in annual card sales volume. Visa has unsurpassed acceptance in more than 150 countries. The Visa organisation plays a pivotal role in developing innovative payment products and technologies to benefit its 21,000 member financial institutions and their cardholders. Visa is a leader in Internet based payments and is pioneering the creation of u-commerce, or universal commerce-the ability to conduct commerce anywhere, anytime, and any way.

About Emirates: Since its launch in 1985, Emirates Airline has received more than 250 international awards in recognition of its efforts to provide unsurpassed levels of customer service.

The airline has experienced rapid and consistent growth, above 20 per cent a year on average and has been profitable for the last 17 years. Financially self-sustained and unprotected, Emirates carried 10.4 million passengers in the 2003-04 financial year - almost two million more than the year before - and declared a record US$ 429 million profit, an increase of 73.5 per cent over the previous year, on revenue of US $3.6 billion - nearly $1 billion more, or 37 per cent better than the year before.

Emirates is the world's fastest-growing intercontinental airline, one of the world's five most profitable and among the 20 largest ones. It is based in Dubai, one of the few cities in the world that pursues an open-skies policy, with more than 100 airlines in free and fair competition.

Its 69 all wide-bodied fleet includes five Boeing B747 freighters and is among the youngest in the skies, with an average age of 46 months. The airline plans to more than double its size by 2012.

Emirates announced the largest order in commercial aviation history at the 2003 Paris Air Show, when it added 71 new Airbus and Boeing aircraft worth US$19 billion to its order book, which now stands at 90 aircraft worth US$26 billion. The airline was the launch carrier for the new ultra long-haul A340-500, which started service on 1 December 2003 on the Sydney route.

It also was the first airline to order the revolutionary A380 double-decker in 2001 and will be the main launch carrier for the innovative A340-600 HGW. With 45 A380-800s on order, which it will start receiving in 2006, Emirates is the largest customer of the yet-to-fly Airbus super-jumbo.

Emirates operates services to 76 cities in 54 countries in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa, Indian subcontinent and Asia-Pacific. Since January it has begun services to Lagos, Accra, Glasgow, Shanghai and Vienna and will start services to New York and Christchurch soon.

Emirates Airline includes Emirates SkyCargo and Destination & Leisure Management (D&LM), which manages Emirates Holidays, Arabian Adventures and Al Maha Desert Resort. The airline is part of the Emirates Group, which also includes associate companies Dnata, Mercator, Transguard and Galileo.

Visit Emirates online at: www.emirates.com

For further information please contact:
Contact:
Camilla d'Abo
ASDA'A Public Relations
Dubai, UAE
Tel: + 9714 3344550
Fax: + 9714 3344556

Clare Woodcraft
Visa International,
Dubai, UAE
Tel: + 9714 331 9690
Fax: + 9714 332 2199

For Emirates:
Frances Barton
Media Relations
Tel: +9714 2032144.
Fax: +9714 2950758