In this week’s installment of Friday Photos, we take a look at some of the wide variety of special paint schemes that are out there.
Condor’s “Heart For Children” was a whimsical special livery. Unfortunately, it was repainted in 2015.
ANA’s “BB-8” special livery is just one in their series of Star Wars themed paint jobs.
Eva Air’s “Hello Kitty” special liveries are more than just paint. Onboard is a fully customized Hello Kitty experience.
Since it was introduced, Icelandair’s “Hekkla Aurora” special livery has been a favorite of both passengers and plane spotters.
Think special liveries are just for the airlines? Not so! The US Air Force has plenty of unique paint schemes on some of their aircraft.
One of the few special liveries to grace the A380, this one commemorated Singapore’s 50th anniversary.
Southwest State Liveries
Southwest Airlines has a fantastic collection of special paint schemes honoring the states that they have a significant presence in. Here is Illinois One.
Arizona One commemorates Southwest’s focus city in Phoenix.
Maryland One celebrates Southwest’s focus city in Baltimore.
Sports
Qatar Airways is a major sponsor of FC Barcelona, and this aircraft commemorates that.
The Etihad Airways Formula 1 special scheme is considered by many to be one of the all time great special liveries.
Horizon Air has many of its Bombardier Dash-8 Q-400s painted in schemes honoring colleges in the Northwest US. This one is for the University of Montana Grizzlies.
The JetBlue Airways special honoring the Boston Red Sox is part of the airline and the team’s marketing agreement.
Retro Jets
Honoring Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher, N711HK retain’s the airline’s original “Desert Gold” livery.
American Airlines’ “Astrojet” livery is what their aircraft wore until the late 1960s.
After their merger with US Airways. American Airlines set out to paint several of their aircraft in the liveries of the many airlines that make up the current airline. Here, the Air Cal special pushes back at LaGuardia.
One of the newest retro jets, TAP Portugal’s new A330-300 made a special visit to Newark just this past week.
Special Marketing
Often times, airlines will paint special liveries honoring organizations that they provide financial support for. This aircraft honors the Make A Wish Foundation, and also shares branding with Disneyland as part of the airline’s marketing agreement with the park.
Presidential campaigns in the US often have dedicated aircraft to move the candidates. These aircraft often become flying billboards for their candidate.
Captained by the band’s frontman Bruce Dickenson, Iron Maiden’s 747 was one of the most chased special liveries among planespotters in 2016 while the band completed their world tour.
That’s it for this week. Want your photos considered for next week’s Photo Friday? Upload them to the NYCAviation Photo Hangar!
