Emirates

Emirates and Red Arrows give start to DP World Tour Championship

Emirates and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows aerobatic team took to the skies yesterday afternoon to mark the start of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai with a spectacular flyover over Jumeirah Golf Estates, along Sheikh Zayed Street and next to the iconic Burj Khalifa.

The aerial formation involved an Emirates A380 aircraft and seven Red Arrow Hawk fighter jets, which flew in a “V” shape.

Taking off from Dubai International Airport, the Emirates A380 flew over Jumeirah Golf Estates before being joined by RAF Red Arrows aircraft at 12:40pm Dubai time as world number one Rory McIlroy and three-time DP World Tour winner Ryan Fox played golf. As a group of aircraft flew at just 1,000 feet over the Jumeirah Golf Estates course, seven Red Arrows aircraft released red smoke plumes signalling the start of the DP World Tour Championship.

The air group then continued along the Sheikh Zayed Highway, increasing altitude to 3,000 feet, at 250 knots, to finally reach and fly past the legendary Burj Khalifa before heading west to the Dubai coast, where all aircraft broke formation and continued on to their airports for landing.

The Emirates A380 was proudly commanded by two UAE captains, Rashed Murshed and Mubarak Al Mheiri, who were supported by Captain Ricky Garala and Captain Philippe Lombet. The Red Arrows team was led by squadron leader Tom Bould, flying number Red 1.

The airline’s partnership with the season-ending DP World Tour Championship dates back to 2009. In over 13 years, the airline has flown more than 600 professional golfers to Dubai for the DP World Tour Championship, attracting more than 200,000 golf enthusiasts to the exciting tournament. 

Emirates is the official partner of 14 tournaments on the DP World Tour calendar each season, with a strong brand presence on the courses of 21 DP World Tour tournaments as well as on the Tour’s media and digital platforms. The airline also partners with the Tour’s Virtual Eye programme, delivered through live television broadcasts that provide real-time positioning and information on player scores and statistics.

In Dubai, Emirates also has a year-round branding rights at Emirates Golf Club, one of 18 world-class golf courses in the city that confirm Dubai’s status as one of the world’s leading golf tourism destinations.

The Red Arrows is one of the world’s top flight teams, having played 5,000 times in front of tens of millions of spectators in 57 countries since the opening of the 1965 season.

The team visited the United Arab Emirates as part of a five-week tour of the Gulf States, with exciting displays and inspiring ground events aimed at promoting a range of UK interests, including trade, business, education and STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

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