Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has welcomed Manchester City FC manager, Mark Hughes, as well as new signings Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry and Roque Santa Cruz, to Abu Dhabi.

Etihad was announced in May as the club’s new official shirt sponsor and partner and the manager and players visited Abu Dhabi en-route to South Africa where they will take part in a pre-season tour.

As well as hosting a question and answer session with hundreds of Etihad staff at the airline’s headquarters, the world-famous players visited its training academy and had a special session learning to fly in an A320 full flight simulator.

Later in the day Carlos Tevez and Gareth Barry made a special appearance at the Etihad Airways stand in the sports village at the “Summer in Abu Dhabi” expo. There they watched local children show off their football skills in Etihad’s Manchester City Football Challenge.

Mark Hughes and Roque Santa Cruz took time to visit the Etihad Airways stand in Abu Dhabi’s Marina Mall where local fans had the chance to meet their heroes as well as get their autographs and photo.

The pair also launched Etihad Holidays’ weekend fan packages to Manchester, which include tickets to Manchester City English Premier League home matches, for the 2009/2010 season.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ chief commercial officer, said: “It has been a fantastic experience for so many people in Abu Dhabi to meet these world famous football stars from Manchester City. This is the first of many visits to the UAE’s capital for Manchester City and we look forward to building further ties between Abu Dhabi and Manchester.”

Manchester City will launch their long-awaited new Umbro home kit this Saturday, 18 July, when they take on the Orlando Pirates in Cape Town. It will be the very first time team players will be seen wearing the new shirt, which features the Etihad Airways logo.

Etihad Airways has built up an impressive portfolio of international sponsorship partners which includes the Formula 1™ Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Ferrari Formula 1™ team, Harlequins Rugby Football Club, the All Ireland Senior Hurling Championships, the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.

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