Emirates takes Dubai’s Expo bid to the skies

Emirates is putting the full force of its A380 fleet behind Dubai’s bid to land the 2020 World Expo. The airline is attaching giant stickers to its A380 fleet, promoting the UAE’s bid to hold the event in Dubai in seven years time. The first aircraft to be dressed with the words “Expo 2020, Dubai UAE, Candidate City”was EK 306, which left for Beijing in the early hours of Jan. 17. In the coming weeks, the airline’s entire A380 fleet – currently standing at 31 – will carry the Expo 2020 message. World Expo, staged every five years and last held in Shanghai, attracts millions of visitors. This would be the first time the event is held in the Middle East, and Emirates, one of Dubai’s great success stories, is a Premier Partner. “The Emirates’ A380s are such a powerful symbol of progress and represent the rapid economic and infrastructural journey Dubai has undertaken,”said Tim Clark, president, Emirates Airline. Dubai is competing against four other candidate cities, including Ayutthaya in Thailand, Ekaterinburg in Russia, Izmir in Turkey and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The winning city will be announced in November.