Gulf airlines build awareness, one sports sponsorship at a time
Photo Credit: Ashburton Grove in north London became known as Emirates Stadium when the Arsenals signed a £100 million sponsorship deal with the airlines in 2004. Flickr / Lloyd Morgan
Skift Take
One explanation for the Gulf airlines' visibility on sports fields could stem from their absence in alliances, which may have pushed them to find meaningful partnerships outside of aviation. It's interesting to the note that Qatar was the first one to join an alliance, and it currently sponsors only one sports team.
The three Gulf region airline biggies Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, and adjacent cousin Turkish Airlines again outperformed their competitors in terms of capacity and passenger growth throughout 2012.
Their hubs' locations in the crosshairs of Europe, Asia, and Africa undoubtedly contribute to their rapid growth, but their brand recognition lags those of many airlines around for decades before them. The brains behind these airlines have seemingly found the fastest way to get their names in front as many eyeballs as possible: sports.
The four airlines hold more than one hundred sponsorship deals with some of the most visible and prominent sports teams, events, stadiums, and cultural festivals in the world.
Other global airlines including Qantas, Lufthansa, and Air Asia sponsor sports teams and cultural events, but none of the magnitude of those sponsored by these Middle Eastern carriers. With all four airlines growing faster than the their compe
