The update to a livery for an airline with a large fleet is a costly, and arduous undertaking. A dramatic shift in livery and brand can create inconsistency for years while a fleet is repainted, and too subtle a shift can be seen as folly. But sometimes the arrival of a new sub-fleet can bring…
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Condor revealed perhaps the bravest new livery and brand image today we’ve seen in a decade. Actively opting to shun its previous looks and celebrate its leisure market, the airline has adopted a bold new, deck chair and beach towel inspired (I kid you not) livery. No, it’s not April 1st, and we did have…
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Following ANA’s announcement that it was going to launch a new airline brand back in 2020, details have emerged today of how this brand will look. Dubbed ‘AirJapan’, ANA’s new carrier is “a new airline brand for medium-haul international routes.” Air Japan is actually just one part of ANA’s transformation of its business model to…
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Alaska Airlines isn’t shy of special liveries. In fact, its first ‘Salmon Thirty Salmon’ livery – which celebrated the airline’s involvement with the shipment of the precious and tasty cargo –was so popular it returned in 2012. While the airline isn’t the only US carrier to adorn their aircraft with marine life, with Southwest also…
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To be honest, we’re not really that sure why Icelandair has done this, but it has decided to update and refresh its once elegant brand, simplifying and stripping back originality. Instead opting for a low-cost looking approach with large billboard titles and basic graphic tails. What’s more baffling is how Icelandair have positioned the dramatic…
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You won’t be blamed if you’ve not heard of Northern Pacific, however in the past few days it’s been making some waves as it seemingly is starting to ramp up its operations. There’s discussion of a launch event in Anchorage later in the month, where we’ll get to understand a little bit more about this…
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Emirates, the Premier Partner and Official Airline of Expo 2020 Dubai, has just revealed yet another bold head-turning A380 livery. This time, dedicated to further carrying the delayed global event’s messages worldwide. However, it’s not the first livery to support the Expo. Eagle eyes may have noticed a circular pattern on many of their fleet.…
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British Airways has just launched ‘BA Better World’, its new sustainability programme. While many airlines have already got active sustainability programmes, the airline said this marked a further commitment to put sustainability at the heart of its business. It has ambitions from reducing emissions and waste and positively contributing to the communities it serves, to creating a great place for people to…
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From the embers of Norwegian’s long-haul ambitions comes a new LCC determined to pick up where the now much smaller airline left off. Today saw the grand reveal of the carrier’s new brand image and livery, which will be sure to get investors excited prior to the anticipated Spring 2022 launch. “We strongly believe that…
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Hawaiian Airlines announced last week that unfortunately it will not restart its ‘Ohana by Hawaiian passenger service between Honolulu and Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i as well as its statewide ATR freighter cargo service. This draws a close to this unique daughter brand of Hawaiian Airlines, and with it, the striking livery designed by Sig Zane and son…
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Last week, Airbus opened its paint hangar doors in Mirabel and let us peek inside where the latest aircraft is being painted for Air Canada. Instead of the usual black and white ‘Raccoon mask’ livery that Air Canada is now sporting across its fleet, the airline has opted to nod to its history, revealing its…
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For the foreseeable future, we’re going to be seeing fewer special liveries while airlines try to save cash and focus on a service return, so those rare few that do roll out will certainly garner some attention now. Qatar Airways is one of the first in this period to reveal a special livery, and naturally,…
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Nolinor the well known charter outfit from Canada has created a scheduled offshoot low cost carrier called ‘Off We Go’ or OWG as the livery would have us know. Apparently launching end of August it’s determined to brush off the Coronavirus stigma facing the travel sector and start affordable flights from its home in Quebec…
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Aegean, the national Greek airline has just unveiled a new brand identity, livery and aircraft interiors designed by Priestmangoode. The London-based studio worked closely with the airline to develop a vision for the new brand, building on an airline that already has a decent reputation for service and hard product. This project encompassed pretty much…
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[Updated] Last week we mentioned in a story that we hoped that in 2020 airlines would start to break the mould and start thinking differently about liveries and brand image and it seems that resurrected Eastern Airlines has done exactly that. Announced yesterday, the new conceptual design for the decades-old carrier – designed by Mechanica…
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It seems the week before Christmas brought a challenge from LOT Polish Airlines to Lufthansa regarding the German flag carrier’s somewhat contentious new livery. The Polish carrier draws issue with the fact Lufthansa’s reimagined tail fin has an uncanny resemblance to theirs. While we agree there are similarities, to our our trained eye, they are…
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TheDesignAir is thrilled to announce the 2019 award winners as voted for by our esteemed judging panel and our readers. Year after year, we see more improvements and enhancements across the passenger experience, from narrow to wide bodies to lounges and airports around the globe. We showcase the 2019 winners here.
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Condor has started to bring back its own logo to the tails of its fleet. At the end of last week, the new design was unveiled to the employees, and the weekend saw the first Boeing 767 with the registration D-ABUF making its first flight in the new Condor look to Cancun in Mexico. In…
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Great news! United Airlines has just released a themed Star Wars safety video. Jumping on the Star Wars bandwagon (which already includes Virgin Atlantic, ANA and Latam, to name just a few) the carrier is celebrating the launch of the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker by releasing a safety video, special livery and Mileage…
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It’s a real battle of do you prefer the Dark Side or the rebel Alliance this week as Virgin Atlantic and LATAM both reveal special limited edition liveries to support the opening of Star Wars ‘Galaxy’s Edge’ experience at Walt Disney World Resort. While LATAM have showcased their stormtrooper themed 777, Virgin Atlantic have themed one…
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The chances are by now if you travel around Europe, you’ve probably seen one of Brussels Airlines ‘Icon’ aircraft at some point over the past few years. After honouring Tintin in 2015, followed by Magritte, the Red Devils, Tomorrowland and the Smurfs, Brussels Airlines has just unveiled another Belgian Icon, a unique aircraft inspired by…
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Meet the new U.N.I.T.E.D… oh no wait, that’s just the unfortunate window/logotype placement. United have revealed their latest livery, not on one of the grounded 737 Max aircraft, but one of the 737-800’s with scimitar winglets. “The design is a visual representation of United’s ongoing brand evolution while staying true to the history it has…
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British Airways today welcomed the arrival of the third in its series of four heritage liveries – a Boeing 747 painted in the iconic Landor design, which will be recognisable for many including myself as it flew on British Airways aircraft between 1984-1997. In fact this livery graced the fleet as I used to watch…
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Yes, retrojets, they are the seemingly appearing with increasing frequency. In fact the chances they are popping up on your social feed more often than the never-ending stream of cat memes. So the latest from Austrian might not necessarily be a surprise, but its a welcome addition to the airline’s fleet, anything but one of…
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It’s a phrase that some airlines build their business model and service proposition on, but the ‘Boutique’ airline is a seemingly new airline type that will no doubt turn our heads a little more often than legacy carriers, but why is that? While La Compagnie has already built the strap-line ‘Boutique Airline’ into their marketing,…
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Yes, that’s right, ANA’s first ‘Flying Honu’ is almost headed to the skies, with the airline’s first A380 rolling out of the printshop last week. Japan’s largest airline put on a big show in Hamburg as the behemoth revealed itself from its hangar. The new plane is Japan’s first Airbus A380 and sports a Hawaiian green…
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Meet Fakarava, recently rolled out of the paint shop. It’s Air Tahiti Nui’s first ‘Tahitian Dreamliner’ which will start flying for the carrier in November between New Zealand and Tahiti. It features a new livery concept by Futurebrand which stems from the rebrand from Tahitian Studio Alexander Lee. It could possibly be the most beautiful Dreamliner…
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We recently showcased Gulf Air’s striking new brand image. Brought to life by design studio Tangerine and brand consultants Saffron, the new image for the carrier is certainly contemporary, encapsulating the very best of aviation design trends. Mixing heritage, sense of locale, modernity and simplicity are a sure fire recipe for a long-life brand that…
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Air Tahiti Nui has always been a solid favourite of TheDesignAir, with a boutique airline approach and bold, striking livery that was one of the first Pacific carriers to showcase what a livery and brand can be before the likes of Fiji Airways followed. However, the livery and brand hasn’t really changed for two…
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The latest airline of the Lufthansa Group to get a fresh new look is Austrian. The airline went through a rebrand only a few years ago, adopting a more friendly, softer approach with the addition of ‘My’ to its brand image. However, in a bid to make a more ‘digital-appropriate’ brand, the airline has removed…
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