Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Emirates’ Penelope Cruz signing targets Spain and Latin America

By Gavin Gibbon
Emirates Penelope Cruz Emirates
Cruz will feature in a series of advertising campaigns across the summer in English and her native Spanish
  • Signing follows Jennifer Aniston and CGI character Gerry the Goose
  • Move also follows record $2.9bn profit at airline
  • Only 2% of Emirates current destinations are Spanish-speaking

Emirates is planning to spread its wings further across Spanish-speaking destinations with the help of actress Penelope Cruz.

The Academy Award-winning star has been announced as the latest brand ambassador for Emirates. She will feature in a series of advertising campaigns across the summer in English and her native Spanish.

Emirates – which reported a profit of $2.9 billion this month – the highest ever profit in its 38-year history – currently operates daily flights to Madrid and twice-daily flights to Barcelona in Spain. It flies four times a week to South America, from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro with onwards service to Buenos Aires.

Penelope Cruz follows fellow A-list actress and Friends star Jennifer Aniston as the face of Emirates. 

Aniston’s opening video registered nearly 3.5 million views on Emirates’ official Youtube channel in just six days. Last year an advert featuring CGI-animated character Gerry the Goose hit 5.8 million views when it aired in 25 countries for a month.

Middle East airlines have regularly turned to personality brands for marketing. Actor Morgan Freeman starred in a Turkish Airlines advert, while Argentina’s World Cup winning captain Lionel Messi turned out for Qatar Airways.

“It’s a common practice in international marketing to employ popular figures from specific regions or linguistic backgrounds to attract customers from those areas,” said Linus Bauer, managing director of Dubai-based Bauer Aviation Advisory.

However, John Grant, partner at Midas Aviation, believes the campaign has a more global focus. Spanish speaking locations currently only account for two percent of Emirates current capacity, he said.

Latest articles

The contraction in the Saudi economy was largely driven by a 10% reduction oil activity

Saudi economy contracts for third quarter in a row

Saudi Arabia’s economy contracted by 1.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2024, while growth in non-oil activities slowed to its lowest rate in a year, statistics released this week show.  The country’s GDP fell for the third quarter in a row, although the drop eased from the 4.3 percent contraction in […]

2REKCFR Soroako, Indonesia. 28th July, 2023. A worker seen in action at Nickel mine, operated by PT Vale Indonesia in Sorowako. U.S. Geological Survey Shows that Indonesian nickel reserves ranked first, reaching 21 million tons or equivalent to 22% global reserves. Credit: SOPA Images Limited/Alamy Live News

Manara takes a $2.5bn stake in Brazilian mining giant

Manara Minerals, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Maaden) and the sovereign Public Investment Fund (PIF), has completed a $2.5 billion deal to acquire a stake in a subsidiary of Brazilian giant Vale. Maaden said in a filing to the Saudi Exchange that it has acquired 10 percent of Vale Base Metals Limited […]

Mehrdad Bazrpash, the Iranian minister of roads and urban development, will be in Abu Dhabi for the meeting this week

UAE and Iran to meet in Abu Dhabi after 10 years

The UAE-Iran Joint Economic Cooperation Commission will convene in Abu Dhabi this week, marking its first meeting in a decade and the continued improvement of diplomatic relations between the countries. The commission will host Mehrdad Bazrpash, Iranian minister of roads and urban development, alongside Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the Emirati minister of economy, this […]