Cabin crew recruitment photos for Emirates Cabin Crew Open Day
Publication date
15.08.2026
Your cabin crew recruitment photos
Your recruitment photos are one of the first things recruiters notice at Emirates Open Day, Qatar Airways Recruitment Event or with any other airline in Switzerland, including SWISS, easyJet, Edelweiss or Helvetic Airways.
A good CV matters, but photos are the primary way to show yourself as a cabin crew candidate. You are expected to follow the entry-level requirements and provide perfect candidate photos, which may be attached to your recruitment dossier.
For Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and airlines such as SWISS, easyJet, Edelweiss and Helvetic Airways, a clean full-body business attire photo makes you look prepared before you even speak. It also helps you feel ready when you walk into the room.
What photos should you prepare for Emirates?
For Emirates Cabin Crew Open Day, prepare a professional photo set before the recruitment day. You will have to upload these photos online through the careers application form and bring printed versions to the recruitment event.
- Formal full-body business attire photo with a warm natural smile
- Formal passport photo with a warm natural smile
- Casual full-body photo with a warm natural smile
- Casual portrait photo with a warm natural smile
One photo session should give you printed copies, digital files, CV and passport details ready in one place. You can use the digital files online and print them for the Open Day. Emirates photos have become the industry-wide standard, so you can use them for any other airline cabin crew recruitment event.
What is important to know about the cabin crew photos?
The photos need to be taken on a white background. The candidate needs to smile naturally, with teeth visible, and stand straight, front-facing, looking into the camera. This is a very unnatural position, so it is worth taking multiple shots and retouching the final photos in software such as Photoshop or an AI editing tool.
People are naturally imperfect: arms, hips, shoulders and legs are rarely perfectly equal in a straight front-facing pose. To look polished in this specific front-facing position, the photos often need careful retouching while still looking natural.
Your formal photo needs to present you in business attire, with perfect make-up, perfectly styled hair and polished grooming. For women, there should be no visible stray hairs, and the bun should sit lower because cabin crew usually wear the cabin crew hat on top of the head. Nails should be red or French manicure, tights should be skin-coloured, and high heels should be classic black. This photo should resemble your future appearance in the cabin crew uniform.
You can compare your photos with the official Emirates Cabin Crew recruitment photo guidance.
Cabin Crew photos are good to be used with other airlines
Your formal full-body photo and passport photo are your main photo set. You can use them in other applications, including SWISS, easyJet, Edelweiss and Helvetic Airways.
The photos are valid until your appearance changes. Emirates states that photos are valid for 6 months, but in reality they can often be useful for the next 2-3 years. Once you change physically, lose or gain weight, or simply look older, you should take the photos again.
Casual photos for Emirates Final Interview
Emirates may ask candidates invited further to the Final Interview to bring some casual photos. These should be taken in natural light, with simple clothes, a clean background and a relaxed smile. They often work best in hotel, holiday or garden settings.
They should still keep the full-body front-facing position, without sunglasses, bags, watches, phones or extra accessories. The candidate must be alone in the photo. These photos should not look like a cropped version of the formal picture or a random photo taken with friends or family.
The goal of casual photos is to show how you present yourself outside the uniform while still looking elegant and airline-ready. You will be an Emirates ambassador even without the uniform, and the airline wants to see how you look in a natural but polished setting.
Why Emirates asks for formal and casual photos
Emirates recruits candidates from all over the world, and the final decision can involve several HR directors reviewing each candidate profile in Dubai and selecting the most suitable people. Photos are a huge help when choosing candidates. Remember that you are competing on the world stage against many nationalities and potentially millions of candidates aged 21-35.
Formal photos show how you may look in a professional airline environment. Casual photos show how you look outside work. In both scenarios, you are part of the Emirates Cabin Crew community.
That is why it is smarter to prepare photos before Emirates Cabin Crew Open Day, instead of looking for a photographer at the last minute once you reach the Final Interview stage. If you do not have your photos with you, Emirates recruiters may ask you to send them later by email. This can prolong your recruitment journey and may put you behind candidates whose applications are complete and ready.
Emirates Open Day from the start
An Emirates Cabin Crew Open Day starts with you providing your online application number. Then you take a seat and wait for the short presentation, after which there is a CV drop-off with a quick first-impression conversation with recruiters.
At the CV drop-off, you will also hand in your photos. Recruiters usually expect the full-body business attire photo. After handing in your documents, you will receive a number that will be attached to your suit or jacket for the entire day.
Bring a printed full-body business attire photo in 10x15 cm size, a copy of your up-to-date CV and a copy of your passport. Together with your online application number, these documents are your starting set.
What to bring to Emirates Cabin Crew Open Day
Prepare the following documents to bring to the Emirates Cabin Crew Open Day:
- A printed CV
- A printed formal full-body business attire photo 10x15 cm
- A printed copy of your passport details
- Your Emirates online application number
Emirates Assessment Centre
The assessment day can take the entire day, or even be split into two days if there are many candidates. Recruiters can usually handle up to 200 candidates a day.
The assessment centre is composed of the following exercises:
- Reach arm test - touching 212 cm
- Pairs exercise with a topic presentation
- English test written individually
- Group discussion in groups of up to 10 people
If successful, you will be invited to the Final Interview.
Emirates Final Interview
Usually, Final Interviews are set up for the next day after the Assessment Centre. However, if only a limited number of candidates attend the Assessment Day, for example around 20 people, the Final Interview can follow immediately on the same day.
That is why your photos should be ready before the recruitment event. You do not want to look for a studio, print photos or fix documents when you should be preparing for the assessment exercises and collecting examples for your answers.
The Final Interview goes deeper into motivation, customer service stories, your experience and your ability to understand passenger needs. Formalities should be done before this step, and your printed copies should match your Emirates online application form.
Recruitment photos for Emirates Open Day
The Emirates-style photo set is useful beyond Emirates. Candidates can use it to apply to Etihad Airways, Oman Air and Gulf Air, as well as airlines such as SWISS, easyJet, Edelweiss and Helvetic Airways.
A cabin crew photo session is not about looking like a model. We are all people. Your photos should look elegant, follow the Emirates guidelines and show you as an approachable candidate.
Good photos will not make you pass the Assessment Centre or the Final Interview, but they remove an easy reason for recruiters to reject your application before that.
Train for your Emirates Open Day
If you have already prepared the necessary documents and photos, you can concentrate on the most important step and train with our recruitment tasks.
Good preparation helps with team building, group discussions and the Final Interview. A prepared candidate is confident and can deliver under pressure. Collect as many examples and answers as you can. They can save your recruitment journey and help you get onboard the best airline in the world. Good luck!
