Corendon Airlines was recently named as the official travel partner of English football club Hull City AFC. The Turkish leisure carrier is the first-ever airline to strike such a deal with the EFL Championship team, and it has celebrated by painting one of its aircraft in a special livery. Let's look at what the deal means.
An exciting partnership
The partnership, which Hull City announced at the end of last week, is a key step forward for the second-division side. Indeed, not only is Corendon its first official travel partner, but the deal also represents the first partnership with a Turkey-based company since Turkish entrepreneur Acun Ilicali acquired the club back in January.
As seen in the video above, one of the ways that Corendon Airlines has chosen to mark its partnership with Hull City is in the form of a special livery. The Boeing 737 in question bears the club's full badge on its tail, which has been painted orange (rather than Corendon's usual red) to match the team's colors. Ilicali stated that:
"We are so happy to welcome Corendon Airlines to the Hull City family. Not only will they help us considerably with our transport needs, [but] they will also help spread the word of Hull City far and wide [with] the fantastic aircraft they have produced for us."
Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests.
The aircraft involved
The Boeing 737-800 that features the new livery actually flies for the carrier's Malta-based sister company, Corendon Airlines Europe. As such, it bears a Maltese registration, namely 9H-CXG. According to data from ch-aviation.com, this twin-engine narrowbody is 11.2 years old, having first flown back in March 2011.
Beyond the special livery, Corendon Airlines' partnership with Hull City will see it transport the team to foreign pre-season training camps, as well as any fixtures that require air travel. Additionally, the carrier will fund an upcoming trip to Turkey for 500 of the team's fans, once again making use of 9H-CXG. Yildiray Karaer, who serves as Corendon Airlines’ Chair, welcomed the deal, adding that:
"We are signing an exciting agreement for us in order to both become a partner in Acun Ilıcalı's goals abroad and strengthen our operations and image in the UK. By bringing Hull City fans to Turkey, we also aim to act as a cultural ambassador in sports. We wish to fly to success together with Hull City. We hope that our cooperation will be beneficial to both sides."
The airline industry is always full of new developments! What aviation news will you check out next?
A growing UK presence
As it happens, Corendon's partnership with Hull City isn't the only thing that the carrier is doing to grow its presence in the UK. Indeed, earlier this year, it opened its first route from the UK, connecting London Gatwick Airport with Antalya. It has also since added Glasgow Airport to its network, linking it with Antalya and Dalaman.
What do you make of Corendon Airlines' partnership with Hull City? Have you ever flown with the carrier? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!