Dubai: Close to 24,000 Emirates Group employees are expected to participate in this year’s Dubai Fitness Challenge (DFC), reflecting the organisation’s long-standing commitment to employee health and wellbeing. The Group continues to champion initiatives that encourage its people to embrace active and healthy lifestyles, while supporting Dubai’s vision of becoming one of the world’s most active cities.
The Emirates Group will participate in two of DFC’s flagship community events, Dubai Ride and Dubai Run. More than 3,200 employees from across the Group took part in Dubai Run in 2025. This year, the Group aims to exceed 4,000 registrations for Dubai Run on 22 November. Employees have already signed up for Dubai Ride, which takes place on 1 November.
Throughout the month, the Group’s more than 20 sports and hobby clubs will actively participate in the Dubai Fitness Challenge. The Emirates Engineering Cricket Club will compete in the official DFC tournament, with fixtures beginning on 4 November. The Emirates Road Cycling Club will take part in Dubai Ride, while the Emirates Paddling Club will participate in the fourth edition of the Dubai Stand Up Paddle (SUP) event on 7 and 8 November. The Emirates Group Basketball Club will also compete in a tournament running from 4 November to 26 November.
Marking 10 years of the Dubai Fitness Challenge, members of the Emirates Scuba Diving Club took the celebration underwater. Four employee divers entered The Lost Chambers Aquarium at Atlantis, The Palm, to unveil a sign reading: “We’re celebrating 10 years of DFC, what’s your 30×30?”, highlighting that fitness can take many forms.
The Group has also organised a corporate fitness session at the Za’abeel Park Fitness Village, where close to 300 employees will train alongside colleagues from across the organisation.
Complementing these activities, the Group’s wellbeing programme, Sehaty, will share practical fitness, nutrition and mental wellbeing tips with employees throughout the month. Sehaty runs year-round health awareness campaigns supported by teams including Group Medical Services, Clinical Psychology and the Employee Assistance Programme, helping employees build healthier habits at work and at home.
The Emirates Official Store has also unveiled its latest EK FIT and EK TRAVEL collections in time for DFC. The range includes performance wear, accessories and loungewear in navy, almond, burgundy and olive tones. With prices starting from AED55, the collection is available at emirates.store and at Emirates Official Stores across Dubai.
The Dubai Fitness Challenge runs from 31 October to 29 November 2026. This year, permanent employees who register and complete 30 minutes of physical activity or 10,000 steps every day for 30 days will receive one Service-Related Concession ticket to any destination across the Emirates network, which serves close to 140 destinations. The initiative is designed to further encourage employees to stay fit and adopt healthy habits.
