Emirates gives Arsenal giant crest made from A380 and 777 parts

Emirates has given Arsenal an unusual anniversary present: a 2.4-metre-high version of the football club’s crest built from parts taken from Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s.

Called the Aircrafted Arsenal Crest, the illuminated sculpture was designed and constructed by Emirates Engineering in Dubai using upcycled aircraft components, including landing gear hardware, fuselage skin, cargo tracks and aircraft windows. 

The installation was unveiled at Emirates Stadium on 9 August by Emirates Airline President Sir Tim Clark and Arsenal Chief Executive Richard Garlick. It celebrates 20 years of the airline’s relationship with the club and comes just days after the two sides extended their sponsorship agreement until 2033. 

How Emirates turned aircraft parts into the Arsenal crest

The sculpture took 34 days to build, with 15 Emirates Engineering engineers, designers, mechanics, technicians and painters involved in the project. 

The team selected specific aircraft components which could be adapted to reproduce individual parts of Arsenal’s badge. 

The centrepiece is the club’s famous cannon. Its wheel incorporates a main landing gear wheel hub from an Airbus A380. A section of the superjumbo’s titanium bleed-air duct was cut and reshaped to make the cannon barrel. Lightweight composite aircraft floor panels were layered together to create its three-dimensional body. 

The shield’s face is made from sheets of Boeing 777 aluminium fuselage skin. Aircraft cargo tracks were converted into the outer edge and supporting structure. Cargo floor panels and roller components were also incorporated into the finished artwork. 

Perhaps the most inventive reuse is the Arsenal name across the crest. Each letter was shaped from aircraft windows, with warm-white lighting installed behind them. Lighting beneath the plinth completes the installation. 

The components were selected by Emirates Engineering’s Aircraft Material Upcycling team, then cleaned and cut, curved, machined, riveted and assembled at the airline’s Dubai engineering facilities. 

The finished structure was painted in Arsenal’s official colours before being transported from Dubai to London aboard an Emirates SkyCargo freighter. 

A permanent anniversary present for Arsenal

The gift marks two decades since Arsenal and Emirates began their partnership in 2006, coinciding with the club’s move from Highbury to its new Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal and Emirates announced on 6 August that they had agreed another long-term extension running until 2033. Emirates will remain Arsenal’s front-of-shirt sponsor, training kit sponsor and stadium naming-rights partner. No financial terms were disclosed. 

The agreement also extends what Emirates describes as the Premier League’s longest-running front-of-shirt sponsorship. 

Sir Tim Clark said the airline wanted the anniversary gift to be something that could only have resulted from the relationship between Emirates and Arsenal.

“The craftsmanship behind the Crest is exceptional. It reflects the precision, discipline and ambition that define both aviation and elite sport, while giving these aircraft materials an entirely new purpose,” Clark said. “As we enter the next chapter of our partnership, this sculpture is both a celebration of everything we have achieved together and a statement of our shared ambition for the future.”

Garlick described the crest as a tribute to the partnership’s achievements. “The Crest stands as a powerful reflection of our relationship and everything we’ve achieved together along the way. We enter this next chapter together with confidence, ambition and a shared belief in what lies ahead for our partnership and our club,” he said.

From retired aircraft to football memorabilia

The project also offers a second life for materials removed from Emirates aircraft.

Emirates operates the world’s largest fleets of both the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777, giving its engineering operation access to significant quantities of components as aircraft undergo maintenance, refurbishment or retirement. 

Arsenal has featured a cannon in versions of its emblem since 1905. It represents the club’s origins among workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich and gives rise to its “Gunners” nickname. 

Emirates effectively combined that industrial heritage with its own engineering identity by building the modern cannon around aircraft components. 

The finished Aircrafted Arsenal Crest will remain on permanent display in the airline’s hospitality space at Emirates Stadium.