Hamad International Airport (HIA), Qatar’s five-star airport, announced that it has enhanced its current sponsorship with top German football club FC Bayern Munich as Platinum sponsor. The latest Bayern jersey featuring HIA-Qatar’s distinctive logo on the sleeve of the team’s iconic shirts was also revealed.
The announcement was made at a press conference at the airport terminal beside the iconic Lamp Bear, chaired by Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker, Bayern Munich Executive Board Member Andreas Jung, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy Secretary General Hassan al-Thawadi and Hamad International Airport Chief Operating Officer Engr. Badr Mohammed al-Meer.
It is Bayern’s first ever shirt sleeve sponsorship deal, a six-year contract with Qatar’s Hamad International Airport which runs until 2023.
The logo with the Qatar Airways-owned airport will be worn by the German champions during Bundesliga matches from the start of the forthcoming season, which begins this Friday.
It builds on an existing sponsorship deal between the German giants and the airport signed in January 2016 for the carrier to advertise inside Bayern’s home ground, the Allianz Arena.
Al-Baker commented: “The strengthening of this fantastic sponsorship between Qatar’s award-winning airport and Bayern Munich, truly demonstrates the State of Qatar’s role as a global leader in sports.
“The HIA-Qatar logo on the sleeve of every Bayern Munich jersey helps display the importance that we as a nation place on sports as a means of bringing people together. The HIA-Qatar enhancement of its sponsorship has also further aligned itself with our nation’s ambitious national vision.”
Bayern’s executive board member Andrea Jung said: “Starting this season, our players will feature the HIA-logo on the jersey’s sleeves. When we signed the contract with Hamad International Airport in January 2016, the sponsors badge on the sleeve was already part of our agreement. So far the HIA-logo has already been placed on the training uniforms.”
Hamad International Airport Chief Operating Officer, Engr. Badr Mohammed a-Meer, said: “HIA-Qatar’s growing and successful partnership with FC Bayern Munich opens up new and exciting avenues for this collaboration. We are rightly delighted to have our five-star airport’s logo on Germany’s most-winning team’s jersey.”
Later, al-Baker led the ribbon cutting to officially open FC Bayern Munich’s new pop-up shop in the airport’s duty free area, featuring branded gifts and merchandise from the popular German football team, available for passengers travelling through HIA to buy.
During the event, a latest promotional video, showcasing HIA’s award-winning facilities and services as experienced first-hand by the football stars, was also launched.
The video features Bayern stars Arjen Robben and Robert Lewandowski among others, and will be played both in the airport and on board Qatar Airway’s flights.
Bayern have held several training camps in Doha in the past few years during the Bundesliga winter break. And this new tie-up will also raises the possibility of Bayern playing few friendly matches in Doha.
Earlier this year, HIA-Qatar’s state-of-the-art airport was ranked as sixth best airport in the world by the 2017 Skytrax World Airport Awards, moving up four places from 2016. HIA has also won the ‘Best Airport in the Middle East’ title for three years in a row and ‘Best Staff Service in the Middle East’ for two years in a row.
