The plane, which was hand painted in Dublin, has been flown for the first time from Bangkok and will fly a number of company routes.
Qatar Airways and FC Barcelona are taking their partnership to the skies as the airline introduces FC Barcelona’s livery for the first time on a Boeing 777. The aircraft, which features the distinctive Barça scarlet and blue, or ‘Blaugrana’ as it is known in Catalan, arrived at Doha International Airport from Bangkok this week.
Building on the concept of ‘a team that unites the world’, which was first introduced in the popular TV spot created to support the partnership, the design incorporates the colourful Barça flag draped across the fuselage of a Boeing 777.
The aircraft was sent to Dublin, Ireland, where it took a team one week to hand paint the custom-made design onto the aircraft. Using an airbrush the team produced a shading effect to help create the illusion of the Barça flag moving as the aircraft takes to the skies. Additional stenciling was used for the text as well as the football club’s crest which sits on the fuselage of the aircraft.
Qatar Airways first revealed renderings of this aircraft’s tailor-made design at a press conference in Barcelona last March.
Commitment goes beyond shirt sponsorship
The introduction of the FC Barcelona livery, alongside the Qatar Airways Oryx logo, further cements the airline’s commitment to the partnership, as well as their loyalty as Barça fans. Qatar Airways and FC Barcelona have been fostering a successful partnership since it officially commenced in July 2013.
“Our commitment to Barca goes beyond having our name on the team jerseys. We are truly fans of the team and genuinely believe that together we are ‘a team that unites the world’,” said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker. “We are very proud to showcase the FCB livery alongside the Qatar Airways Oryx on our aircraft. It is just one more way that we are able to demonstrate the strong partnership between our two organisations.”
In the nearly eight months since the partnership has been in effect, the airline has launched a hugely successful partnership campaign including the Land of FCB TV commercial that has garnered more than eight million views from fans all over the world; officially sponsored the FC Barcelona Asia Tour, and introduced unique tour and match packages for fans looking to visit Barcelona through Qatar Airways Holidays division.
The Boeing 777 featuring the livery will be flown to a number of destinations throughout the airline’s global network, including Bangkok, Singapore and Mumbai.
Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 17 years of operation and currently has orders worth over US $50 billion for more than 280 aircraft. The airline flies a modern fleet of 129 aircraft to 134 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.
As part of its aggressive expansion programme, Qatar Airways will launch routes to eight new destinations during 2014: Sharjah (UAE) from March 1; Dubai World Central (UAE) from March 1; Philadelphia (USA) from April 2; Larnaca (Cyprus) from April 29; Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport (Turkey) from May 22; Edinburgh (Scotland) from May 28; Miami (USA) from June 10 and Dallas/Fort Worth (USA) from July 1.