G-FBJH E-175 in the current livery at Birmingham, UK. Notice the Biman DC-10 in the background – Photo: Ken Fielding
FlyBe, based at Exeter, Devon, in the UK is Europe’s largest regional airline. It was born as Jersey European Airways out of a merger between Jersey, Channel Islands-based Intra Airways and Bournemouth, UK-based Express Air Services in November, 1979, and established a network of services out of the Channel Islands, mainly to other UK points.
In June 2000, the airline cheekily renamed itself ’˜British European’, using the ex-British European Airways (BEA – now British Airways) flight prefix code ’˜BE’, rebranding as ’˜FlyBe’ in July, 2002. In November 2006, FlyBe expanded again by buying the British Airways’ regional group, ’˜BA Connect’ (apart from their services out of London City Airport, which are operated by BA CityFlyer), with part of the payment to BA being a 15% stock transfer.
At the start of 2008, FlyBe signed a franchise agreement with Scottish-based airline Loganair. This agreement became effective when their franchise agreement with British Airways was terminated the following October. Loganair’s aircraft now operate in FlyBe’s colors on over 50 routes out of Scottish airports including the ’˜Highlands & Islands’ services.
Air Malta’s first aircraft (9H-AEK) seen in new livery. Photo by Peter Cook.
Air Malta is headquartered at Malta International Airport in Luqa. It was founded in 1973 and is currently 98% owned by the Maltese government and 2% by private investors.
They currently operate a fleet of ten aircraft made up of Airbus A320 and A319. In September 2012, Air Malta unveiled their new livery on an Airbus A320 (9H-AEN) at the Malta International Airshow. The new livery is just part of the airline’s restructuring to move it into profitability.
The new livery is just plane-fun (that spelling was done on purpose). Their old livery didn’t look too shabby, but looks better as a historical design versus the current one.
Turns out the same firm that designed the new American Airlines livery, FutureBrand, also designed this new one for Air Malta. I am guessing there is less controversy on that tail for Air Malta.
Air Jamaica Boeing 737-800 – 9Y-JMB at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on September 18, 2011. Photo by TVL1970.
Air Jamaica’s fleet over the years has consisted of so many different aircraft it’s hard to keep up. They’ve operated everything from a Douglas DC-8 to Boeing 727’s to Airbus A340s. Heck, they even leased a Boeing 747-100 from Aer Lingus at one point. Fortunately for their fleet operations they now only operate Boeing 737-800s.
Air Jamaica has quite the history of varied government ownerships and privatizations. The airline was founded in late 1968 with the Jamaican government owning the majority share but with Air Canada owning a minor share and providing maintenance services. Air Jamaica was partially privatized which lasted for about 10 years before financial trouble lead the Jamaican Government to take back full ownership.
Today Air Jamaica is a subsidiary of Caribbean Airlines Limited, with the Jamaican Government still having a 16% ownership share. Talk about an interesting ownership history for this airline.
Air Jamaica Airbus A340-300 in last generation livery. Photo by Ken Fielding.
Their website doesn’t seem to be up-to-date with their fleet. One page on their website makes reference to operating seven A320s, one A321, and one A319. Another shows that they are operating the A340, A320 and A321. But on their fleet page, they only reference operating 737s — which is all they currently operate.
Air Jamaica operates flights from their hub in Kingston, Jamaica to various destinations around the Caribbean, New York (JFK), Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Toronto.
Air Jamaica’s new livery is much more snazzy than their old ones. I particularly like the brightness and how the colors on the tail transition down the side of the plane in a swoosh like line. Given that this is a Caribbean based airline, it’s certainly fitting (and almost necessary) that they have a colorful livery!
This story written by…Colin Cook, Correspondent.Colin is an avid AvGeek who works in finance and is based in the Seattle area. He has an immense passion for aviation and loves to travel as much as possible.
Batavia Air Airbus A320 in the airline’s newest livery. Image by Christian Volpati / Wikipedia.
Batavia Air is based in Jakarta, Indonesia and was founded in 2002. The airline mostly operates flights with-in Indonesia, but also to China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Timor-Leste.
The airline is in the process of upgrading their fleet. Right now they have a mixture of over 30 aircraft including the Airbus A320, A321, A330, Boeing 737-300, 737-400 and a 737-500.
Their newest livery is a nice combination with a front white fuselage, but colored tail. Their previously livery looks familiar, with a bit more white, but with the aircraft type clearly labeled on the side. However, nothing is quite as classic as their original livery with a double cheatline.
The new Salmon-Thirty-Salmon livery shown off in Anchorage. Image from Alaska Airlines. CLICK FOR LARGER.
One of the best liveries out there was Alaska Airline’s original Salmon-Thirty-Salmon livery on a Boeing 737-400. The airline re-painted the old salmon livery a while back and many have missed it (including me). Have no fear – a new salmon livery is here. This week, Alaska unveiled their Salmon-Thirty-Salmon II livery in Anchorage and it is even better than the first.
The new Salmon-30-Salmon has winglets. Image from Alaska Airlines. CLICK FOR LARGER.
This time, a Boeing 737-800 was used as a larger canvas. The fish-plane comes in at 91,000 pounds and measures at almost 129 feet. Alaska calls this “the most intricately painted commercial aircraft in the world.”
There are not too many differences between the older salmon livery and the newer one. The concept remained the same; to paint a huge salmon on a plane. One of the biggest changes is the fact that the 737-800 has winglets with scales. Also the “Alaska” name is painted in a salmon color versus white of the previous design.
How could you not smile flying such a beautiful plane? Image from Alaska Airlines. CLICK FOR LARGER.
The design used four gallons of Mylar paint to create an iridescent sparkle over the nearly 3500 fish scales. Crews worked 27 days straight in Oklahoma City and used 21 unique colors to get this amazing livery completed.
“Today, we are proud to introduce the largest flying fish to all of Alaska and the world,” said Marilyn Romano, Alaska Airlines’ regional vice president of the state of Alaska. “Not only will this special plane spotlight the best, most sustainable seafood harvest in the world, it will also remind us of the important role the seafood industry has on the Alaska economy. On behalf of the 1,700 Alaska Airlines employees working in the state, we are also proud to safely fly the thousands of men and women who work in the seafood industry throughout the Last Frontier.”
Brandon Farris caught the S7S landing in Seattle.
A big thanks to Brandon for letting me share his photo of the Salmon-30-Salmon landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The above video highlights the process of painting the Salmon-30-Salmon livery.
