6 February 2019: History was made on Sunday when the wheels of Pope Francis's flight from Rome touched down in Abu Dhabi for the first ever visit to the Arabian Gulf by the Pope. Pope Francis has since attended the Presidential Palace, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and spoken at an interfaith meeting at the Founder's Memorial.

This occasion attracted global attention, and an estimated 170,000 people convened in Abu Dhabi at Zayed Sports City to be part of the celebrations.

The Byrne Events team were an integral part of the smooth running of the Papal visit with Byrne supplying, installing and managing various equipment spread over multiple locations.

Football fans will  know that Zayed Sports City was also the venue for the Asian Football Cup (AFC) tournament which finished only nine days ago, which meant that meeting the needs of the Papal visit organisers was challenging to say the least. The timeframe to deliver the required equipment between these two major events, coupled with the size of the event in terms of attendance, plus the fact that it was effectively a one day event, contributed to this being the largest logistical undertaking by Byrne in our history!

In nine days and no less than 12 different areas of Zayed Sports City, plus a further 10 remote locations (public transport points) across the UAE, our teams delivered and installed almost 300 separate items of our events rental fleet including sanitation units, power generators and accessories, mobile lighting towers, temporary module buildings and refrigerated containers (reefers).  

At Byrne we set the standard for the variety, quality and delivery of temporary equipment to the events industry. We’ve provided equipment rental solutions to both sport and entertainment events, including international golf tournaments, horse racing, tennis championships and motorsport, as well as music concerts, cultural festivals and exhibitions. From initial layout and site design to delivering a venue that any event organiser can be proud of, we can deliver turnkey solutions for events of all sizes. Find out more.