Turkish Airlines’ (THY) new commercial starring famous players of Manchester United soccer club will air in 80 different countries.
Turkey’s national carrier said in a statement on Tuesday that star players of Manchester United of England, including Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Patrice Evra, Rafael, Fabio and Paul Scholes kicked a ball around inside a passenger plane, performing feats of balance and skill. The commercial depicts the luxury and comfort enjoyed by Turkish Airlines passengers and the surprise ending involves an appearance by Manchester United legend and global football icon Sir Bobby Charlton.
Directed by Marco Grandia, the commercial “Football on Air” was filmed in the Manchester Studio at Media City’s Pie Factory.
The shoot involved building a full sized passenger jet and the production crew spent a further three weeks preparing for the shoot which took two days to film. More than 115 people were involved in creating the commercial.
The commercial was first broadcast by several international TV channels.
Based in İstanbul, THY is one of the fastest growing and prosperous airlines in the world. It carries approximately 30 million passengers a year, with direct flights to 126 international and 37 domestic destinations.
THY posted €389 million profits in 2009, becoming one of the top companies, following Air China and Ryan Air, in the world that recorded the highest profit in 2009.