Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline, said the new deal reflected the airline’s commitment to tennis and its strategic ambition to promote Australia as a travel destination.
“The Australian Open is a first class sporting event drawing a truly global audience to Melbourne Park each summer, while millions more watch the action on screen,” Sir Tim said.
“Our commitment to the Australian Open and the Emirates Australian Open Series is a natural extension of our existing tennis sponsorship portfolio around the globe, which now includes three of the four Grand Slams.
“Partnering with the Australian Open demonstrates our ongoing commitment to Australians. Sharing and supporting our customers’ passions is key to our sponsorship activity, and we plan to utilise this partnership to enhance the fan experience and create an even stronger connection with our customers in Australia,” Sir Tim concluded.
Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley described the global airline as “a perfect fit” for Australia’s largest annual sporting event.
“We are delighted to join forces with Emirates and welcome the airline to the Australian Open family,” Tiley said.
“Emirates is a prestigious international brand that closely aligns with our values and links perfectly with our ambition to extend our global reach. Each year we pride ourselves on presenting a world class sporting event at Melbourne Park, and sharing that experience with millions of tennis fans worldwide.
“Emirates is another world class brand that strives to bring people together all over the world, every day. We look forward to commencing our relationship this summer and we’re excited to grow the partnership into the future.”
The agreement also includes sponsorship of the elite Australian Open Series, the official lead-in to the first Grand Slam of the year.
From this summer the series will be rebranded the Emirates Australian Open Series, with the airline to partner all five marquee events held ahead of the Australian Open: Hopman Cup (Perth), Brisbane International, Apia International Sydney, Hobart International and the World Tennis Challenge (Adelaide).
“Our new Emirates Australian Open Series partnership reflects the prestige reputation of these events, which draw the world’s top players to our shores each summer. This season alone we’ll see Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova compete in Brisbane, Andy Murray, Serena Williams and Perth’s own Casey Dellacqua at Hopman Cup, Nick Kyrgios is also playing Hopman as well as joining Samantha Stosur in Sydney,” Tiley said.
“We look forward to commencing our relationship this summer and we’re excited to grow this new partnership across all our events into the future.”
Emirates’ tennis portfolio includes some of the highest profile events on the tennis calendar, including the Grand Slams Roland Garros and the US Open, the Emirates Airline US Open Series, the Dubai Tennis Championships (UAE), BNP Paribas Open (USA), Barcelona Open (ESP), Internazionali BNL d'Italia (ITA) and Rogers Cup (CAN).
Emirates is the official airline of the ATP World Tour and naming rights sponsor of the ATP rankings, and from today will be recognised as the official airline partner of the Australian Open and Emirates Australian Open Series.
In Australia, Emirates’ diverse sponsorship portfolio includes the Emirates Melbourne Cup, Emirates Australian Open golf tournament, PGA Championship, Perth International, ICC Cricket World Cup, Collingwood Football Club, the Adelaide Festival and the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.
Emirates operates 84 flights a week from Australia to Dubai, including four flights per day onboard the flagship A380 aircraft from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The expansive global route network offers Australians connections to more than 140 destinations in more than 80 countries worldwide.
Photo Caption : A Grand Slam sign-up for Emirates and the Australian Open, Todd Woodbridge, former Australian doubles champion, was on hand to celebrate the partnership announcement.
