Emirates FA Cup A380: Dubai carrier brings football fever to the skies



On the weekend when English football is gripped by FA Cup fever, Emirates has played its part with the unveiling of its latest themed Airbus A380 aircraft.

The Emirates FA Cup A380 was presented ahead of the semi-final stage of football’s oldest cup competition, of which the Dubai carrier last year became the first title sponsor in its 144-year history.

This season's first semi-final saw Manchester United dramatically defeat Everton 2-1 at Wembley last night, meaning they will meet the winners of today's other semi-final between Crystal Palace and Watford.

For its first journey, the FA Cup themed A380 flew to London Heathrow, where it was met by former England and Liverpool goalkeeper David James, an FA Cup winner with Portsmouth in 2008.

The plane will return to Dubai as EK030 and then continue on to Seoul, Madrid, Paris and eventually visit the 37 destinations served by the Emirates A380 worldwide.

“Being the title sponsor for the Emirates FA Cup along with our sponsorship of Arsenal shows our deep commitment to the United Kingdom and football,” said Emirates president Tim Clark.

It follows on from a number of other football-themed planes Emirates has used during the past year.

In March it celebrated its partnership with Italian club AC Milan with an aircraft sporting images of players Riccardo Montolivo, Mario Balotelli, Carlos Bacca, Keisuke Honda, Alessio Romagnoli, and Mattia De Sciglio on the fuselage.

In December it was the turn of Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid teammates to adorn the A380 decal. Emirates said it would be used for sixth months.

And in July it flew Premier League side Arsenal on its pre-season tour to Singapore in a Boeing 777-200LR featuring Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck, Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere on one side, plus Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud on the other. On board, menus and headrests were given an Arsenal theme.

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Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.  

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery 

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National