Etihad Airways has signed a new multi-million dollar agreement to extend to 2019 its naming and marketing rights for Etihad Stadium, Melbourne’s premier multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue.
The five-year extension was announced by James Hogan, President and CEO of Etihad, and Ian Collins AM, Chief Executive of Melbourne Stadiums Limited, the company that operates the stadium.
Mr Hogan flew into Melbourne this week to attend a press conference to announce the deal.
“Placing the Etihad name on this world-class sports and entertainment stadium, as well as activating our marketing and hospitality rights has provided Etihad Airways with a solid platform to build our brand across the state of Victoria and the whole of Australia,” said Mr Hogan.
He added that the partnership with the stadium had given Etihad “unparalleled exposure in Australia, one of the most important routes in our network.”
Etihad became the stadium’s naming-rights sponsor in March 2009, the same month that it commenced flights between Melbourne and Abu Dhabi.
Etihad’s Melbourne-born CEO also opened a new Etihad maintenance facility at Melbourne Airport during his visit, the United Arab Emirates flag-carrier’s seventh facility outside Abu Dhabi and its second in Australia.
Etihad has invested more than $10 million in its Australian line maintenance operations since 2007.
“While some companies are shedding maintenance jobs,” said Mr Hogan, “we look forward to hiring even more Australian technicians and engineers as our global operations grow.”
Last month Mr Hogan criticised Qantas’ hostile reaction to Etihad increasing its shareholding in Virgin to 10 per cent, saying that it was a ploy to distract from Qantas’ own failings.
Qantas reportedly warned the Gillard government that because Etihad is owned by the oil-rich UAE government, it could bankroll a major attack on Qantas’ domestic markets via Virgin.
Asked if Etihad had experienced challenges in the commercial viability of its Athens route, at a time when Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines had stopped flying to the Greek capital citing problems of profitability on the route, Mr Hogan told Neos Kosmos:
“We’ve never contemplated coming off Athens. We operate wide-body and narrow-body aircraft, so in the off-season we operate A320s into Athens. In the [European] summer to meet the Australian peak, we place the A330 on the route.
“Between Abu Dhabi and Athens there’s strong business activity, strong traffic coming out of the middle east, and also coming out of south east Asia into Greece. Athens is a key part of our network.”