Etihad Airways and Jet Airways will be the official airline partners and principal sponsors for the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) team, the Mumbai Indians, for the 2015 Twenty20 tournament.
The announcement was made ahead of the Mumbai Indian’s first match against the Kolkata Knight Riders in West Bengal on 8 April.
It will be the second consecutive year that Etihad Airways and Jet Airways have partnered with the Mumbai Indians, which has become one of the largest sports brands in India and followed by millions of cricket fans around the world.
Crowned champions of the 2013 IPL, the Mumbai Indians will be hoping to build on their efforts in the Pepsi IPL 2014 when they progressed to the semi-final stage having played the first five matches in the United Arab Emirates.
Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, said: “The Pepsi Indian Premier League is recognised as one of the most exciting competitions in world sport, with the Mumbai Indians its biggest team, so it’s great news for Etihad Airways to be named as the team’s joint airline partner and principle sponsor alongside our friends at Jet Airways.
“We can’t wait for the Mumbai Indians’ season to start against the Kolkata Knight Riders and to continue the fan engagement activities, particularly in social media, which were so popular in 2014.”
Following the same format as last year, the Etihad Airways logo will be located at the top of the back of the shirts worn by the Mumbai Indians for home matches and the Jet Airways logo will be featured in the same position for away matches.
Raj Sivakumar, Jet Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, said: “The Mumbai Indians partnership is without question one of our most exciting sponsorship properties and we’re thrilled to work with the team again for the 2015 Pepsi IPL.
“The brand exposure that both airlines will gain throughout the next two months of the IPL will be phenomenal and we look forward to supporting the Mumbai Indians as Rohit Sharma and his team looks to win the title for the second time.”
Akash Ambani of Mumbai Indians said, “We are delighted to renew our association with international brands like Etihad Airways and Jet Airways as Principle Sponsor. The core values of our brands are synergistic in aiming to delight our patrons.
“This renewal reinforces the unique value that Mumbai Indians represents and offers to its partners. We look forward to strengthening our relationship across all platforms.”
Among the highlights of the sponsorship agreement will be the display of extensive Etihad Airways and Jet Airways branding and messaging beamed across LED pitch-side advertising and on giant screens in the Wankhede Stadium.
Notes:
Etihad Airways added a third daily flight from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi and a new daily service from Kolkata to Abu Dhabi on Sunday, 15 February. In addition, a third daily flight will be added from New Delhi to Abu Dhabi on Friday 1 May.
These schedule expansions are complemented by the recently launched Jet Airways daily services from Goa and Lucknow to Abu Dhabi. Jet Airways flights from Ahmedabad, Pune and Mangalore to Abu Dhabi flights are also set to start on Sunday 29 March.
These increases mean that from May 2015, Etihad Airways and Jet Airways will offer a combined schedule of 224 weekly return flights from 15 destinations in India – more than any other individual carrier from the Gulf region.
The combined operation will include five flights a day from Mumbai, four flights a day from Delhi, three flights a day from Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi, two flights a day from Ahmedabad and Kozhikode, and daily flights from Jaipur, Kolkata, and Thiruvananthapuram.
About Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways began operations in 2003, and in 2014 carried 14.8 million passengers. From its Abu Dhabi base, Etihad Airways flies to 111 existing or announced passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. The airline has a fleet of 111 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and more than 200 aircraft on firm order, including 69 Boeing 787s, 25 Boeing 777-X, 62 Airbus A350s and nine Airbus A380s.
Etihad Airways holds equity investments in airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Aer Lingus, Alitalia, Jet Airways and Virgin Australia, and is in the process of formalising an equity investment in Swiss-based Etihad Regional, operated by Darwin Airline. Etihad Airways, along with airberlin, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia, Etihad Regional, Jet Airways and NIKI, also participate in Etihad Airways Partners, a new brand that brings together like-minded airlines to offer customers more choice through improved networks and schedules and enhanced frequent flyer benefits. For more information, please visit: www.etihad.com.
About Jet Airways
Jet Airways currently operates a fleet of 116 aircraft, which include 10 Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, 8 Airbus A330-200 aircraft, 4 Airbus A330-300 aircraft, 73 next generations Boeing 737-700/800/900/900 ER aircraft and 15 ATR 72-500 and 3 ATR72-600. With an average fleet age of 5.18 years, the airline has one of the youngest fleet of aircraft in the world. Flights to 75 destinations span the length and breadth of India and beyond, including Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Bangkok, Brussels, Colombo, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait, London (Heathrow), Muscat, New York (Newark), Riyadh, Sharjah, Singapore and Toronto.