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Inflight auction raises $250,000 for charity
DUBAI — An auction on board Emirates flights, launched in March to celebrate Montblanc’s centennial year, has netted $250,000 (Dh920,000), which will be donated to disadvantaged children around the world.
In a first for the travel retail industry, the silent, onboard auction of the exclusive Montblanc chronograph centennial watch attracted numerous bids from passengers over a three-month period, beginning March 2006.
However, prominent Ugandan international businessman Michael Ezra Mulyoowa topped all other bids with his quarter-of-a-million-dollar offer.
The proceeds will go to Emirates Airline Foundation, the airline’s onboard charity which uses donations by passengers to fund projects around the world in aid of underprivileged children.
Mulyoowa presented the cheque for $250,000 to Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group, and patron of the Emirates Airline Foundation, at a ceremony in Dubai.
Also in attendance were Frank Passmann, Montblanc’s General Manager of Travel Retail, and Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline.
Shaikh Ahmed said: “This donation will go towards funding the many projects singled out by the foundation which provide food, medicines, housing and education for disadvantaged children around the world. They are the real winners of this auction which was the first of its kind in the inflight duty-free industry. Its success has exceeded all expectations. The winning bid was almost four times the minimum amount required, and it’s probably the biggest single transaction ever made in the travel retail industry.”
Hand-crafted to celebrate Montblanc’s 100th anniversary, as well as its long-standing relationship with Emirates’ Inflight Duty Free service, the exclusive timepiece was presented to Mulyoowa by Passman.
As part of his auction prize, Mulyoowa and two guests were flown First Class on Emirates to Montblanc’s headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. They then went onto Zurich for a stay at the luxurious Montblanc Chateau in Le Locle, the heart of watch-making.
The one-of-its-kind, automatic Montblanc chronograph centennial watch is encased in 118 grammes of 18-carat solid white gold and features a bezel set with black and white diamonds and a 43-faceted diamond on the crown (winder), shaped in the distinctive Montblanc star, with a total weight of 1.5 carats.
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