Look how Emirates is taking tennis to cruising altitude with Grand Slam jet

Emirates celebrates its global tennis legacy with a new tennis‑themed A380 livery

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Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor
The livery showcases a melange of tennis-inspired elements, with each Grand Slam logo framed within a tennis ball emblem and rendered in the tournament's signature colours.
The livery showcases a melange of tennis-inspired elements, with each Grand Slam logo framed within a tennis ball emblem and rendered in the tournament's signature colours.
Supplied

Dubai: Emirates has unveiled a special new Airbus A380 design celebrating its long‑standing association with world tennis. The livery, inspired by the four Grand Slam tournaments, brings the sport’s colour and energy to the skies as the Dubai airline strengthens its global brand through sports partnerships.

The aircraft features each Grand Slam’s logo, framed within a tennis-ball motif, layered in the signature hues of the individual tournaments: the Australian Open’s summer blue, Roland‑Garros’ red‑clay tones, Wimbledon’s trademark green and purple, and the US Open’s bold mix of yellow and blue. The first flight featuring the new livery landed in Melbourne to mark the opening of this year’s Australian Open.

The Grand Slam‑themed jet reflects Emirates’ sponsorship of the Australian Open, Roland‑Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. The airline’s partnership portfolio spans both the ATP and WTA tours, including the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, one of the region’s most prestigious sporting events. The new design serves as a visual tribute to Emirates’ enduring connection to tennis and its core values of sportsmanship and resilience.

Taking tennis spirit worldwide

Aviation enthusiasts can expect to spot the newly liveried A380 operating on key international routes, including Houston and Sao Paulo, spreading the theme of global sportsmanship along the way. The airline noted that the livery will remain part of its fleet for the next few years, highlighting its ongoing investment in global sports culture.

Expanding a world‑class sponsorship footprint

Emirates' global sponsorship network now spans several major sports and cultural partnerships, linking fans across continents. Beyond tennis, its commitments extend to horse racing through the Dubai World Cup and Team Godolphin, golf via the DP World Tour, and cricket across all major ICC events.

The airline also sponsors elite football clubs such as Arsenal, Real Madrid, AC Milan, and FC Bayern Munich, while continuing its nearly decade‑long title partnership of The FA Cup. In the UAE, Emirates supports the Pro League and remains present on Al Ain FC’s training kit this season.

Nivetha Dayanand
Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor
Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.
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