Emirates and FA Cup Champion Arsenal Salutes Chinese Fans

The 2017 Emirates FA Cup champion, Arsenal, will play FC Bayern München today in a pre-season friendly match at Shanghai Stadium, and take on EPL rivals, Chelsea, in the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing on July 22. Arsenal players will wear the special jersey with the logo of their official partner, Emirates Airline, in Chinese, as a tribute to their Chinese fans.

As the world's leading international airline, Emirates has actively sponsored a number of sporting and cultural events over the years, in order to establish an emotional bond with passengers from more than 80 countries and regions, and to share the passion and joy brought by sports, including football. Since 2004, Emirates has officially become a long-term partner of Arsenal Football Club. In addition to the shirt sponsorship, Emirates also has naming rights to Arsenal's home ground, Emirates Stadium.

Since the opening of the English Premier League in April, Emirates has launched a series of online interactive activities for Chinese Arsenal fans, including:

*April - using ground advertising in the English Premier League to invite Arsenal fans from China to participate in Emirates official WeChat interactive activities;

*June - launching a selfie campaign on Sina Weibo;

*July - mobilizing fans across the country to cheer for Arsenal in their own dialects on Weibo, which received passionate fan videos in Cantonese, Hokkien, Shanghainese and videos from Zhejiang, Guangxi, Sichuan and others.

In order to provide an opportunity for Chinese fans to interact with Arsenal players, Emirates will hold a "meet and greet" event before the Beijing match. Arsenal players will have the opportunity to experience the Chinese culture by learning more about authentic Chinese food, such as Peking Duck and dumplings.

Adam Li, Vice President China of Emirates Airline, said:"Emirates remains committed to global economic and cultural exchanges and development. We bring people together through popular sport events, such as football games, and encourage people to explore the world. With long-term partnerships with top football clubs such as Arsenal, Emirates is spreading the passion and charm of football through our network that covers more than 150 destinations in 84 countries."

"During the July 22 and today's games, Arsenal will be dressed in jerseys with the iconic Emirates logo in simplified Chinese. Meanwhile, fans can follow and participate in our 'Win free air and game tickets to London' event on Emirates official Weibo account. Winners will fly to London to watch Arsenal playing in the Emirates Stadium."

Today, Emirates operates 38 flights per week from China - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Yinchuan and Zhengzhou - to more than 150 destinations in over 80 countries. Emirates also operates nine daily flights from Dubai to London. This means Chinese passengers can enjoy a seamless flight to the UK via Dubai.

Emirates is the first, and only, airline in the world to operate a fleet of all Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft for its passenger flights. Emirates provides passengers with superb services that are both comfortable and secure. That is why Emirates has won the World's Best Inflight Entertainment award for a record of 13 years at the prestigious Skytrax World Airline Awards, the latest being in 2017. The airline also has been recognized as the Best Airline in the World in the 2017 TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice® Awards for Airlines.

In 2012, Emirates renewed its partnership with Arsenal Football Club, a five-year extension to the partnership until the end of the 2018/2019 season. In addition to shirt sponsorship, Emirates also holds the naming rights to Arsenal's home ground, Emirates Stadium, a state-of-the-art 60,000 seat arena in North London, until 2028.

(Evangle Luo of TTFLY shared with you)