Emirates to recruit more Maltese citizens

An ultra-modern careers centre to attract top quality recruits to join the Emirates Group was officially opened by Emirates chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

This year the company is recruiting more than 2,500 new staff, including Maltese, to join the 17,000 now on its books. Emirates has employed Maltese flight and cabin crew staff before the start of its operations in Malta in 1998.

Last year, the airline employed 47 Maltese citizens: six captains, one first officer and 40 cabin crew. Last July, Emirates conducted interviews in Malta for prospective candidates to join Emirates cabin crew to meet the airline's growth.

Four new personnel were selected and engaged as cabin crew bringing the total number of 51 Maltese nationals employed with Emirates in Dubai. A few days ago, Emirates issued another call for applications, this time to manage and execute its operations at the Malta International Airport.

By 2010 the international airline based in Dubai expects to employ 35,000 people. Last year alone 116,000 job seekers applied to join, and 98,000 in the five months to this September, more than twice as many as in the same period last year.

Sheikh Ahmed said at the ceremony: "We have achieved a great deal since we first took off in 1985.

"Thanks in no small part to the efforts of our staff from all over the world, Emirates has since won more than 200 major international awards."

"Many high quality candidates apply to join the Emirates Group, attracted by our global reputation, our strong brand, our new 10-year recruitment strategy and our eye-catching Internet recruitment site. Finding and recruiting the right people with the skills and competences we need is at the heart of all we do, and this new centre will give us a front door which properly reflects our commitment to quality. This is no longer a luxury, it is an essential."

The bright, attractive new Careers Centre, a 'one-stop' shop to give candidates the best first impression, will be the main port of call for 2,000 candidates a month, which until now were handled through fourth-floor offices never designed for the job. It will provide spacious interview rooms and lounges, and four workstations for candidates to browse jobs and apply online.

Special flight crew selection offices will replace rented hotel rooms, and cabin crew who were recruited at the Emirates Training College will now apply via the centre too.

In May Emirates launched www.emiratesgroupcareers.com to confirm its role as a global employer of choice, and market Dubai as an excellent place to live and work.

Today nine out of 10 candidates applying for advertised jobs do so online.

Emirates Airline operates three direct flights each week from Dubai to Malta: on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays on the new aircraft A330-200.

Travellers in both directions benefit from fast, convenient connections between Emirates' Dubai hub and destinations to the Far East and Australia. As from May 1, 2003, the airline will increase its operations in Malta to four flights a week.