Emirates has agreed a £36 million deal to sponsor the cable car which will link the Excel exhibition centre and O2 arena, in a move which will also see the airline’s branding placed on London tube maps.
The ten-year deal will see the service named The Emirates Air Line, with the creation of two new stations – Emirates Greenwich Peninsula and Emirates Royal Docks.
Both of these will be added to the London tube map, along with a red line depicting the service’s five-minute flight path across the Thames, and the carrier’s branding will be displayed on 34 cable cars transporting passengers along the route.
Transport for London plans for the cable car system to be operational by next summer, in time for the 2012 Olympic Games. Both Excel and the O2 arena will host sporting events during the Games.
According to TfL, the £36 millon sponsorship deal covers 80 per cent of the overal construction cost of the project.
Emirates already sponsors Arsenal Football Club’s ground in north London, and has a replica version of its A380 superjumbo on display on the roundabout near the entrance to Heathrow airport.
For more information visit emirates.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
