The latest airline brand ranking from Brand Finance will be unveiled in more detail tomorrow at The Global Travel Marketing Forum in Dubai. This new industry forum has been organized by The Travel Marketing Store Ltd who focus on promoting travel marketing excellence. Over 30 companies are participating in the event including Emirates, Google and the Jumeirah Group.

Duncan Alexander, Director at The Travel Marketing Store said, "we are delighted to work with Brand Finance and to have them unveil their latest airline brand valuations at our event. We would like to pass on our congratulations to the Emirates team who clearly put a great deal of effort into building brand equity".

Emirates soars in brand value

In what has been a very challenging climate for the airlines industry Emirates has climbed to become the most valuable airline brand in 2012 with a value of US$3.7 billion, a 2% increase on last year but enough to fly ahead of Lufthansa for the first time.

This performance has been driven by growth in passenger revenues and important strides made in the long haul passenger market.  

Emirates airline continued to post strong growth with connecting traffic through its hub, whilst successfully sustaining growth into new international destinations. It has recently signed a 10-year alliance with Qantas airlines which will also contribute to the airline's aggressive growth ambitions moving forward. Emirates continues to improve its customer brand experience through investment in quality product and service concepts to provide passengers with a world class onboard experience. The airline's focus on brand building and sponsorship activities together with its efforts to reposition the airline towards becoming more of an aspirational 'lifestyle brand' are apparent and Emirates retains its strong AAA- brand rating, despite stiff competition from other international airlines.

Hany Mwafy, Brand Finance Managing Director Middle East, says "against the backdrop of the global economic slowdown, Emirates' performance is highly commendable. The partnership with Qantas and a more aspirational positioning have seen customer revenues and brand value grow".

At $3.7bn Emirates is both the most valuable airline brand and the most valuable Gulf brand for the 5th consecutive year. The airline continues to a role model for brands from its sector, its region and throughout the world. And it is the first time to see a Middle Eastern brand leading a global league, a superb achievement as well as an inspiration for other Middle East brands in other sectors.

- ENDS -

About Brand Finance

Brand Finance plc, the world's leading brand valuation consultancy, advises strongly branded organisations on maximising their brand value through effective management of their brands and intangible assets. Founded in 1996, Brand Finance has performed thousands of branded business, brand and intangible asset valuations worth trillions of dollars.

Its clients include international brand owners, tax authorities, Intellectual Property lawyers and investment banks. Its work is frequently peer-reviewed by the big four audit practices and its reports have been accepted by various regulatory bodies, including the UK Takeover Panel.

Brand Finance is headquartered in London and has a network of international offices in Amsterdam, Athens, Bangalore, Barcelona, Cape Town, Colombo, Dubai, Geneva, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Lisbon, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Singapore, Toronto and Zagreb.

For further information, please visit our website: www.brandfinance.com

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Robert Haigh

Media Relations

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r.haigh@brandfinance.com