Qatar Airways has announced the renewal of its sponsorship agreement with the prestigious football club Al-Ahli Saudi FC.

This announcement comes at a time when Al-Ahli Saudi FC prepares to play one of their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League games here in Doha later today.

Qatar Airways’ sponsorship renewal with Al-Ahli Saudi FC marks yet another milestone in the midst of an exciting array of recent announcements. The airline yesterday announced that it will be the Official Partner and Official Airline of FIFA, with a contract extending though the 2022 World Cup, which will take place in the Qatar.

The signing ceremony was attended by His Highness Prince Fahad bin Khalid bin Abdullah, Honourary Member of the Al-Ahli Football Club; His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Honourary Member of the Al-Ahli Football Club and Head of Financial Committee; as well as Ayman Mansour Abdulgafar, Honourary Member of Al-Ahli Football Club; Abdullah Ajaj, Board Member of Al-Ahli Football Club; and Waleed Mouath, Legal Advisor of Al-Ahli Football Club.

Having recently announced its ninth destination in Saudi Arabia, the award-winning airline will embark its new service to Yanbu with three-weekly flights beginning May 9. As the official airline and proud sponsor of the Al-Ahli team, Qatar Airways congratulated the prestigious club for securing second place in the Saudi Professional League, and for all its successes this season.

Qatar Airways group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker said: “We are tremendously excited about renewing our sponsorship agreement with Al-Ahli Saudi FC. Qatar Airways is dedicated to promoting the power of sport in bringing people together. Nowhere is this is more evident than through our many world-class sponsorships, including those with Fifa, Formula E electric car races in Paris and New York, FC Barcelona, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and Qatar Total Open tennis tournaments, the UCI Road World Championships and the Sydney Swans. We congratulate Al-Ahli FC on all it has achieved, and look forward to celebrating its continued success in the future.”

Al-Ahli Saudi FC president Ahmed Al Marzouki said: “We at Al-Ahli Saudi FC are honoured to embark on a new journey with Qatar Airways for another three years of partnership. During the past years we reached several milestones, including winning the Saudi league and the King cup, as well as taking part in the historic Match of Champions against FC Barcelona  which attracted millions of football lovers around the region. I would like to thank Qatar Airways for this valued partnership. We look forward to celebrating many more success together in the future.”

Qatar Airways began operations to Saudi Arabia in 1997 with non-stop flights to Jeddah. The airline has added Riyadh, Dammam, Madinah, Gassim, Ta’if, Al Hofuf and Abha to its portfolio of destinations, all non-stop to and from Doha, with connections to Qatar Airways’ destinations worldwide.

Qatar Airways currently operates 151 weekly flights to eight key cities in Saudi Arabia. The addition of Yanbu will increase the number of Qatar Airways’ weekly flights to Saudi Arabia to 154 non-stop flights. - TradeArabia News Service