Emirates is coming to Belgium this month with two cabin crew open days, and the dates are getting closer. If you have been waiting for an Emirates recruitment event, this could be your moment.
The airline will hold open days at two locations in June 2026:
- Brussels: Sunday 15 June, 09:00 — NH Collection Brussels Centre
- Antwerp: Tuesday 17 June, 09:00 — NH Collection Antwerp Centre
Both events are walk-in open days. You do not need an invitation to attend. You turn up, present your documents to a recruiter, and the process begins the same day.
Why Belgium, and Why Now
Emirates currently operates 14 weekly flights from Brussels Airport and has served the Belgian market for over a decade. Belgium is a particularly attractive recruitment market because of the multilingual candidate pool — French, Dutch, and German speakers are all in demand, and Belgian candidates typically bring exactly the cultural awareness and language range Emirates values in its crew.
The broader context is that Emirates is expanding. The airline has an order book of over 250 aircraft with deliveries running through to the late 2030s, and a growing fleet requires a growing crew base. Open days across Europe are running consistently throughout 2026.
What Actually Happens at an Emirates Open Day
This is where most guides let candidates down — by describing the process in abstract terms without telling you what the day actually feels like. We have attended Emirates open days directly, in multiple countries and multiple capacities, and what follows is the honest version.
You arrive at the hotel. You are likely not the first. Candidates who take “09:00 start” seriously will often find others already queuing before them. Experienced candidates know that arriving early matters, not necessarily because it improves your chances with the recruiter, but because the energy of the room changes as the morning progresses and the queue grows.
Once inside, you sit through a presentation. This typically runs for an hour or more and covers the airline, life in Dubai, and what the role involves. The recruiter will take questions. Some candidates use this moment to make themselves visible. Whether that helps is genuinely unclear, but staying engaged and present throughout the presentation is not optional. Recruiters notice who is paying attention and who has already mentally left the room.
After the presentation, you queue to submit your CV and photographs to a recruiter. This is the moment most candidates have been rehearsing for. The reality is often disorienting. The exchange can last as little as 30 seconds. The recruiter glances at your CV, may ask one or two questions — “Why do you want to be cabin crew?” or “Why Emirates?” — and moves on. In some cases, there are no questions at all. You hand over your documents, and that is it.
Once all CVs have been submitted, you are asked to leave the conference room. The recruiters deliberate privately. The shortlist is then posted on a sheet of paper outside the room: your name is either highlighted or not.
The shortlisted candidates are handed a card or piece of paper with details of the assessment day, typically held the following morning. They are usually asked to keep this information to themselves and not share it with candidates who were not selected. The unshortlisted candidates leave. That is the end of their day.
Insight: The single most common question after an Emirates open day is “Why wasn’t I shortlisted?” The honest answer is that the selection at this stage is influenced by factors that go beyond your CV and your smile. Recruiters arrive at each open day with a brief covering the nationalities, language skills, age ranges, and cultural backgrounds the airline is seeking to recruit that day. A candidate who is perfectly qualified may not be shortlisted at a particular event simply because they do not match what the airline needs at that specific moment.
The Antwerp Advantage
This is worth paying attention to. We have tracked Emirates open days across Europe for years, and the attendance numbers vary dramatically by city. Events in major cities with large candidate pools, such as London, Paris, and Milan, regularly attract hundreds of candidates. Events in less typical locations attract far fewer.
Antwerp is not a traditional Emirates recruitment hub. The event on 17 June may well attract a significantly smaller group of candidates than Brussels two days earlier. Historically, smaller open days have meant more time with the recruiter, a calmer and better-organised environment, and in some cases a higher shortlisting rate simply because the recruiter has the bandwidth to properly consider each candidate rather than processing a queue of 300 people.
If you can attend both events, do. If you can only attend one and are not specifically tied to Brussels, Antwerp on the 17th may offer a better experience.
What to Bring
- Printed CV — clean, plain text, no photos embedded, no graphics or columns
- One passport-sized photograph in professional business attire
- Valid photo ID
- Optional: one full-length photograph in business attire
Photo standards: Professional business attire, jacket and tie for men. Stand facing directly toward the camera, hands at your sides, natural smile showing teeth, white backdrop.
Minimum Requirements
Before you attend, confirm you meet all of the following:
- At least 21 years old at time of joining. You can attend slightly before your 21st birthday if it falls within a couple of months.
- Minimum height of 160 cm
- Able to reach 212 cm on tiptoes without shoes
- Fluent in written and spoken English. Additional languages are a significant advantage.
- Minimum high school education
- At least one year of customer service or hospitality experience
- No visible tattoos while in Emirates uniform
- Willing to relocate to Dubai
If You Are Shortlisted
Your name will appear on the shortlist posted outside the conference room. You will be invited to the assessment day, held at the same venue the following morning. The assessment day covers a reach test, an English language test, a group exercise, and, for those who progress, a final interview. The full process typically runs across two days.
Assessment days are invitation-only. Do not return to the venue unless you have been specifically told to attend.
If You Are Not Shortlisted
You can attend another Emirates open day. The official six-month cooling-off period applies if you received a formal regret email after an online application, attended an assessment day, or reached the final interview stage. If you simply attended an open day and were not selected from your CV submission, you are technically free to attend another event sooner. However, use the time to improve your application rather than immediately repeating the same process.
How to Apply Online
If Brussels and Antwerp do not work for you geographically, Emirates runs open days across Europe throughout the year. Candidates can also apply online at any time through the Emirates Group Careers portal.
Apply online or find your nearest open day at emiratesgroupcareers.com
For everything you need to prepare before Sunday:
