Manchester United picks Aeroflot as its official carrier

Manchester United has today announced a five-year partnership with Aeroflot Russian Airlines (Moscow). Aeroflot will become the Club’s Official Carrier.

According to the announcement by the football (soccer) club, “this partnership marks the Club’s first commercial venture in Russia – an expanding market it is keen to explore further and where it has close to 18 million followers.”

Announced at a ceremony at United’s Old Trafford stadium today, Aeroflot’s CEO Vitaly Saveliev and Manchester United’s Group Managing Director, Richard Arnold were joined by team manager, David Moyes and the first team squad, to celebrate the partnership.

As the Official Carrier of Manchester United, Aeroflot will provide the English Premier League champions with strategic advice on travel for the team and club representatives.

Aeroflot has 137 planes and one of the youngest fleets in Europe, with an average age of five to six years and in 2012, the Group provided an outstanding travel experience to its 27.5 million passengers. Each of its luxury aircraft features comfortable seating as well as award-winning on-board menus designed by Michelin-starred chefs. As a member of SkyTeam global airline alliance, Aeroflot and its partners provide services to more than 1000 destinations in 178 countries and offer the shortest route between Europe and Asia, via Moscow.

Aeroflot is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.

According to the club, “Manchester United is one of the most popular and successful sports teams in the world, playing one of the most popular spectator sports on Earth. Through our 135-year heritage we have won 61 trophies, enabling us to develop the world’s leading sports brand and a global community of 659 million followers. Our large, passionate community provides Manchester United with a worldwide platform to generate significant revenue from multiple sources, including sponsorship, merchandising, product licensing, new media and mobile, broadcasting and match day.”