Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester City stars 'make a football fly' in new Etihad Airways Dreamliner advert

He's joined by his City teammates for some action on the runway with the Abu Dhabi airline's Boeing 787 with special livery

Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne in the new Etihad advert. Courtesy Etihad / YouTube

If there's one English Premier League player who could bend a football through an open aircraft door from 30 yards it's Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.

And so the Belgian dead-ball specialist proves (with a little video editing) in a new advert from City's sponsors, Etihad Airways.

De Bruyne stars in the video, advertising Etihad's new City-themed livery on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner, alongside teammates Ederson, Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez, Joao Cancelo and Steph Houghton from Manchester City Women.

The players are dressed as airport ground workers - and Gundogan in particular looks as though he's enjoying himself as he waves the luminous sticks which are used to direct runway traffic.

De Bruyne then strips out of his work gear to reveal a City kit and delivers a perfect set-piece through the door of the 787.

"With @ManCity  at our side, there's more than one way to make a football fly," Etihad states alongside the video clip.

The aircraft made its inaugural flight from Abu Dhabi to Manchester on Monday, October 21, with guests given Manchester City merchandise.

They were met by Omar Berrada, chief operating officer for Manchester City; club legend Joleon Lescott; goalkeeper Karen Bardsley and mascots for a welcome ceremony upon arrival in Manchester.

The new Manchester City livery is the first since 2011, following the “Blue Moon Rising” theme that was launched on Etihad's A330-200 to celebrate its second daily service to Manchester.

The City livery is one of a number of special designs rolled out by Etihad this year.

The Abu Dhabi airline put out a Saudi Arabian-inspired Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to mark Saudi's 89th National Day in September, and earlier this year it celebrated the Special Olympics World Games in the UAE capital with a bespoke livery, again on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

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