Special sweets, Bollywood movies: How Emirates plans to celebrate Diwali onboard this year

Dubai: Dubai’s flagship carrier, Emirates, on Wednesday announced its plans for onboard Diwali celebrations, marking the return of its annual festive tradition.

Emirates plans to offer special menus and entertainment across its India network from October 17-24, on flights connecting nine Indian cities to Dubai.

The airline will serve Diwali delicacies across all cabin classes on routes to Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata, and Mumbai during the Hindu festival of lights.

Economy and Premium Economy passengers will receive motichoor laddu with their hot meals – fried chickpea flour balls sweetened with sugar syrup and flavoured with cardamom and saffron.

First and Business Class travellers will be offered kaju pista rolls, a creamy rose-flavoured cashew and pistachio dessert with dried fruits encased in silver leaves.

The celebrations extend to Emirates' First and Business Class lounges in Dubai, where passengers can sample onion kachoris and paneer potli samosas served with tamarind and mint chutney. Dessert options include mango sandwiches, balushahi, kesar rasgullas and gajar ka halwa.

First Class lounge guests can enjoy a Spicy Saffron Martini or Chai Chat Latte mocktail, while Business Class passengers will have access to Elderflower Gin Fizz cocktails or Berry Basil Splash mocktails.

Emirates lounges in Cape Town and Johannesburg, serving significant Indian diaspora communities, will offer gulab jamun, traditional rice pudding and mango lassi.

Entertainment options include 167 Indian movies on the ice system, featuring recent Bollywood releases like Laapataa Ladies, Crazxy and Jigra. The system offers regional films in nine languages – Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Bengali and Gujarati – alongside 14 Indian TV programmes and 40 music albums.