Gunship
31st Jan 2005, 21:56
From Louis Vosloo's Airpic (www.airpic.co.za) http://www.airpic.co.za/oid/images/1/IMG_8861_formation.jpg
Qatar Airways lights up South Africa sky
Web posted at: 1/31/2005 3:0:15
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
DOHA: Qatar Airways, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, has taken South Africa by storm by unveiling the world's largest-ever moving billboard to officially announce its arrival in the country. The skies above South Africa's major cities of Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town were lit up in a five star aerial light display across the evening sky.
Five helicopters were used in each location to fly the 'starry lights' over the three cities in perfect formation, to highlight Qatar Airways' award-winning Five Star service. Qatar Airways, the national carrier of Qatar is one of only three 'Five Star' ranked airlines in the world, an accolade awarded by the independent aviation industry monitoring agency, Skytrax.
Last night's spectacle, arguably the largest moving outdoor billboard in the world, heralded the launch of Qatar Airways' scheduled flights between Doha and both Johannesburg and Cape Town. The airline operates four flights a week between Doha and both South African cities, using an Airbus A330-200 in a two-class configuration of 24 seats in Business and 248 in Economy.
Qatar Airways appointed Cape Town-based events company Teamworks to develop a concept to promote the arrival of the airline in South Africa. Teamworks managing director Steve Pearce said: "Qatar Airways wanted us to develop a really 'Big' idea, so we decided to use as our main positioning point, the fact that Qatar Airways is a Five Star airline. We literally decided to put five stars in the sky above Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town to herald the arrival of this new Five Star airline." Teamworks contracted a local aviation company to construct powerful light systems rigged to the under belly of each of the five helicopters in each city.
The helicopter pilots were briefed to fly in perfect formation above each city for 2.5 hours on the night of January 28, stopping to hover over various targeted populated areas for three to four minutes. The display occurred simultaneously in each city and was designed to be clearly visible for many miles, and to arouse curiosity among millions of people who witnessed the event. "We wanted people to look up and see these stars and start talking about them, to build up to the official launch and advertising of the airline," added Pearce.
The promotional campaign includes full page ads taken by Qatar Airways in national papers across South Africa over the weekend to explain the Five Star show. Speaking in Johannesburg ahead of a celebratory gala dinner tonight, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said he was delighted at the huge amount of interest shown by the South African public in Qatar Airways. "Qatar Airways is spreading its award-winning Five Star service to a new market in South Africa to give passengers a taste of our excellent levels of service," he said.
"There are strong economic ties between the Middle East and South Africa and we are only too pleased to facilitate travel between the two regions. We have developed a thriving business that has become increasingly noticed by rest of the aviation industry which can only watch and admire how we have matured in just a short few years. We are not an airline which stands still. We are innovative, reflected by the Five Star night, with a campaign that will reach millions of people. We are proud to have highlighted our Five Star campaign with an outdoor moving billboard that is arguably the world's largest, Akbar added.
Qatar Airways was the first Middle East carrier to introduce First Class seat-cum-flat beds and features a new state-of-the-art Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) system for passengers traveling in First, Business and Economy Class across its long-haul Airbus A330 fleet.
Qatar Airways lights up South Africa sky
Web posted at: 1/31/2005 3:0:15
Source ::: THE PENINSULA
DOHA: Qatar Airways, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, has taken South Africa by storm by unveiling the world's largest-ever moving billboard to officially announce its arrival in the country. The skies above South Africa's major cities of Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town were lit up in a five star aerial light display across the evening sky.
Five helicopters were used in each location to fly the 'starry lights' over the three cities in perfect formation, to highlight Qatar Airways' award-winning Five Star service. Qatar Airways, the national carrier of Qatar is one of only three 'Five Star' ranked airlines in the world, an accolade awarded by the independent aviation industry monitoring agency, Skytrax.
Last night's spectacle, arguably the largest moving outdoor billboard in the world, heralded the launch of Qatar Airways' scheduled flights between Doha and both Johannesburg and Cape Town. The airline operates four flights a week between Doha and both South African cities, using an Airbus A330-200 in a two-class configuration of 24 seats in Business and 248 in Economy.
Qatar Airways appointed Cape Town-based events company Teamworks to develop a concept to promote the arrival of the airline in South Africa. Teamworks managing director Steve Pearce said: "Qatar Airways wanted us to develop a really 'Big' idea, so we decided to use as our main positioning point, the fact that Qatar Airways is a Five Star airline. We literally decided to put five stars in the sky above Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town to herald the arrival of this new Five Star airline." Teamworks contracted a local aviation company to construct powerful light systems rigged to the under belly of each of the five helicopters in each city.
The helicopter pilots were briefed to fly in perfect formation above each city for 2.5 hours on the night of January 28, stopping to hover over various targeted populated areas for three to four minutes. The display occurred simultaneously in each city and was designed to be clearly visible for many miles, and to arouse curiosity among millions of people who witnessed the event. "We wanted people to look up and see these stars and start talking about them, to build up to the official launch and advertising of the airline," added Pearce.
The promotional campaign includes full page ads taken by Qatar Airways in national papers across South Africa over the weekend to explain the Five Star show. Speaking in Johannesburg ahead of a celebratory gala dinner tonight, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said he was delighted at the huge amount of interest shown by the South African public in Qatar Airways. "Qatar Airways is spreading its award-winning Five Star service to a new market in South Africa to give passengers a taste of our excellent levels of service," he said.
"There are strong economic ties between the Middle East and South Africa and we are only too pleased to facilitate travel between the two regions. We have developed a thriving business that has become increasingly noticed by rest of the aviation industry which can only watch and admire how we have matured in just a short few years. We are not an airline which stands still. We are innovative, reflected by the Five Star night, with a campaign that will reach millions of people. We are proud to have highlighted our Five Star campaign with an outdoor moving billboard that is arguably the world's largest, Akbar added.
Qatar Airways was the first Middle East carrier to introduce First Class seat-cum-flat beds and features a new state-of-the-art Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) system for passengers traveling in First, Business and Economy Class across its long-haul Airbus A330 fleet.