PNG Air Is The Latest Pacific Airline to Introduce New Livery And Brand

This may not be the most well-known airline internationally, but PNG Air certainly will be turning heads thanks to a new livery and brand developed by Principals Group, a brand strategy and identity company with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. Launched this month in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea (one of the most challenging regions to fly) the new brand, name, livery, uniforms and corporate identity was launched.

This also coincided with the airline’s introduction of their very first ATR 72-600 aircraft, helping the airline modernise its aircraft from its current 14-strong Dash 8 fleet. “The strategic direction of ‘people connecting people’ was drawn from the airline’s claim to fly to more places in PNG than any other. This strongly influenced the striking new design, which has been widely lauded for its modern representation of PNG’s people and culture.” State Principals and their brand language division ‘XXVI’ in their press release.

Speaking on behalf of his design team, Principals Executive Creative Director Simon Wright said, “The design is fresh, unique, and clearly represents the best of Papua New Guinea. As with all our projects we took a brave direction, and PNG Air was perfectly willing to encourage our creative freedom.” He adds, “The outcome is spectacular and shows what can be achieved when the best creative minds are given the ultimate canvas – an aircraft.”

We have to agree, this is a very simple and bold livery, that sits with the likes of Fiji Airways, Hawaiian’s O’hana, and even Air Inuit, all of which have managed to capture the spirit of the region, using iconography that represent its roots in a simple repeating pattern. Its clean contemporary design also makes it distinctly iconic and the simple application of three colours makes the design even more striking. This new design not only lifts the image of the carrier, but also of the region as a whole.

It seems we match the feelings of Principals Group, as their director Sandy Belford said, “What we have created here changes the game for airline branding, not just in PNG but across the region and the world. This is branding at its best, and we believe it will make a huge difference to the perception of this airline, and also of Papua New Guinea. We now look forward to helping PNG Air grow into a true force in aviation.”

Speaking after the launch, PNG Air CEO Muralee Siva commented, “From the strategy and the name, through to the aircraft livery and corporate identity, the work has been outstanding. We are thrilled, and this result is a credit to the entire team from Principals and XXVI who took our vision and made it better than we could ever have expected.”