Air India is giving cricket-crazy consumers a reason to fly with the Maharaja during the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which kick starts from April 3.
The national carrier, which has entered into an agreement with Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians, is offering miniature bats signed by players to select passengers along with a chance to fly with the two IPL teams during this season.
?In all flights, where members of either of the two teams are flying, 10 passengers will be selected through a lottery and will be given miniature bats signed by players of the team,? said an Air India official. The airline plans to distribute around 300 bats in around 30 flights the players will be flying during the qualifying rounds of the season.
?If either of the teams enter the qualifying rounds, the bats on offer will increase. Since both the teams are well positioned, we are sure that they will easily qualify for the final rounds,? said the official.
Air India has been actively associated with sport events held in the country and also was the official airline partner for the Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi in October 2010. Its association with the IPL has been on for the last four years, even though this year would be the first when it comes to distribution of bats.
?Association with IPL teams have helped us lot earlier. There have been a lot of instances last year when people have cancelled their tickets with other airlines and booked with us, only to travel with the players,? said the official, adding that the bat distribution will only add to that interest.
Mumbai Indians is owned by Reliance Industries and GMR Group owns Delhi Daredevils.
?We are taking our association with Air India further by distributing bats to passengers, whom we also call Delhi Daredevils fan, on board with our players. Our players like the service of Air India and they love to fly the airline,? said Hemant Dua, head of marketing, commercial and operations of Delhi Daredevils.
Mumbai Indians, whose team members will also wear the Air India logo on the back of their caps/helmets, have also welcomed the association.
?The relationship has grown stronger over the years, from having Air India as the team?s airline partner to being positioned on players official gear, this season. Mumbai Indians have always endeavoured in providing innovative value additions to its partners and sponsors,? said a Mumbai Indians spokesperson.