Singapore Airlines "has been unveiled as the new title sponsor of the city-state's Formula One race in September as the carrier bids to promote its brand to motor racing's global television audience," according to Anshuman Daga of REUTERS. The Sept. 19-21 race "will see the carrier's brand prominently displayed around the Marina Bay Street Circuit." Asia Sponsorship News CEO Ben Heyhoe Flint said, "It would reinforce its status as a premium carrier because the brand value of Formula One is premium. For me, Singapore Airlines really needed something like this" (REUTERS, 4/15). The DPA reported the deal, of which no financial aspects were released, "is for the next two years, with an option to renew." The former title sponsor of the race was telecom company SingTel, "which sponsored the event from the inaugural race" in '08 (DPA, 4/15). CHANNEL NEWS ASIA's John Leong wrote the annual sponsorship "has been estimated" to be in the region of S$15M ($12M). The race "will now be called the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix" (CNA, 4/15). In N.Y., Gaurav Raghuvanshi wrote Singapore Airlines "placed two-page advertisements in local papers on Monday with a picture of a runway and an F1 car in an alley that appears illuminated by two rows of aircraft windows on each side." The airline "has also painted one of its Airbus A380 superjumbos with F1 livery" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/15).
