Bogotá, Colombia — Emirates says it has hosted an airport travel rehearsal at El Dorado International Airport for people on the autism spectrum, walking participants through the steps they would encounter on a flight.
The programme covered check-in, baggage drop, security screening and boarding, according to the airline's 16 October announcement. Participants visited an Emirates aircraft and met cabin crew, before practising arrival procedures including baggage reclaim and customs.
The exercise forms part of the airport's accessibility programme. Its purpose is to make an unfamiliar journey more predictable before someone travels; it was a simulation, rather than a scheduled passenger flight.
Emirates describes the event as Colombia's first initiative of its kind. That is the airline's account, and this report does not establish a measured reduction in travel anxiety or independently assess individual participants' experiences.
The release does not provide a date or booking process for a subsequent Bogotá rehearsal.
Illustration adapted from Felipe Restrepo Acosta’s terminal photograph, under CC BY-SA 4.0.