The industries of commercial aviation and professional football often find themselves at a crossroads with one another. For example, Emirates is known for sponsoring teams like Real Madrid and Arsenal. To mark its partnership with the latter of these, the Dubai-based UAE flag carrier devised a special Airbus A380 livery.

Launched in 2019

While Arsenal-themed Emirates aircraft trace their history back to 2016, today we are looking at A6-EEB, which was plastered in Arsenal's colors in 2019.

Emirates' commercial relationship with London's Arsenal FC dates back to 2004, with the Emirates name being seen on the team's shirts and stadium since the 2006/2007 season.

The 2019 livery launch came a year after Emirates signed an extension to its existing sponsorship agreement with Arsenal, which will see the team's ground retain its Emirates Stadium name until 2028. The special paint scheme was revealed in March 2019, and featured a 383-square-meter decal depicting several Arsenal players.

Commenting on its wider commercial activities, the airline stated:

"Emirates’ sponsorship and support of global football clubs and popular football events have enabled the airline to bring major clubs to the UAE to compete in unique tournaments, connecting them to their fans, as well as capitalizing on opportunities that will link local clubs with international football teams through focused collaboration."

A special visit

To mark the new livery's launch, Arsenal FC traveled to Dubai on the newly-repainted aircraft. The purpose of this trip, which marked "the first time in Emirates' history that the whole Arsenal squad [visited] Dubai," was to play against local side Al Nasr in the first game to be hosted in the then-new Al Maktoum Stadium. The visitors came from behind to win 3-2 in the venue's inaugural match.

Unfortunately, the special livery, which was applied to an Airbus A380 registered as A6-EEB, was only a temporary arrangement. Indeed, data from Planespotters.net shows that it was removed in July 2019, after less than half a year. This contrasts with the approach of Emirates' UAE neighbors Etihad Airways, whose Manchester City-themed liveries stayed for much longer.

Grounded for more than two years

Less than a year after being delivered and only one year since receiving the special paint scheme in the first place, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced A6-EEB into hibernation. According to Flightradar24.com, its most recent passenger-carrying duties before the grounding came in the form of a round trip from Dubai International (DXB) to London Gatwick (LGW) and back in March 2020.

After arriving back in the UAE on the morning of March 21st, 2020, the quadjet flew to the neighboring Dubai World Central (DWC), where it has sat in storage. Data from ch-aviation.com showed that the 10.29-year-old quadjet was one of 42 Emirates A380s in storage last August (from a total fleet of 116 double-deckers).

Twist of fate

Amid long-haul travel's robust recovery, Emirates began reintroducing more and more superjumbos over the last year. Even some of its other airline counterparts started to put their faith back into the type. For instance, Etihad returned its A380 to service this week.

Regarding Emirates, the airline now has a total of 87 A380s active. These units have been busy meeting demand on high-capacity routes.

A6-EEB is now active and has been well-spotted across the skies. Over the last week, it has primarily been performing on the Dubai-Glasgow route. However, it has also flown to Hong Kong and Johannesburg. Even though it doesn't feature the famous Arsenal livery anymore, Emirates remains a strong partner of the London-based football club.

What do you make of Emirates' former Arsenal-themed livery? Did you get to fly on A6-EEB while it still had this special paint scheme? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

Sources: Flightradar24.com; ch-aviation.com; Planespotters.net