Germany’s leading cruise operator, AIDA Cruises, is sponsoring Hamburg’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The company continues to support the "Feuer und Flamme" (fire and flame) initiative on its next phase which will culminate in the Olympics Referendum on November 29, 2015. Olympic medal winner Hansjörg Kunze, Vice President Communication, will be entering the race on Hamburg’s behalf as an Olympic Ambassador.

"I’m all fired up because Hamburg has the unique opportunity to show what a cosmopolitan, fascinating and innovative metropolis in the center of Europe it is. We are already looking forward to welcoming guests and athletes from all over the world to Hamburg," Hansjörg Kunze says.

AIDA Cruises is ready for the Olympic Games in Hamburg. Back in 2004 an AIDA vessel was already at the Olympic Games as the "German ship." For the duration of the entire Games, AIDAaura was anchored at the port of Piraeus, and was the official meeting point of Germany’s Olympic family.

The cruise company already operates one of the world’s most state-of-the-art fleets. Its current fleet of ten ships is operated in accordance with the highest international standards of quality, eco-friendliness and safety. In preparing its ships for onshore power and the use of LNG, AIDA Cruises has already introduced trailblazing concepts for supplying cruise ships at the port of Hamburg with eco-friendly power. The AIDA fleet will increase to 14 ships by 2020. With its new ships, which will be commissioned in 2019 and 2020, AIDA Cruises will realize the concept of "green cruising" for the first time. It will be the world’s first cruise operator to power its new generation of ships solely with LNG (liquefied natural gas). This means that soot and sulfur dioxide emissions will be completely eliminated. As Hansjörg Kunze points out, "This would be an important contribution towards sustainable Games in Hamburg."