Sierra Pacific Airlines Boeing 737-200 taken at Boeing Field (BFI). Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren.
I am always game for an airline in the US operating with a few classic Boeing 737-200s. It is rare to find one still operating in the US and soon, it will surely be impossible.
Sierra Pacific Airlines was founded in 1971 and currently operates two 737-200s (N703S and N712S) out of their base in Tucson, AZ. The airline runs charters and sub-charters for other airlines, while also running flights for the US Forest Service, US Military and the US Marshals.
Like most classic airliners, comes a classic livery and Sierra Pacific is no different. The livery rocks that cheat-line that is not seen on many of today’s modern jets.
Seeing this livery next to others a bit more modern, it comes up a bit short. Yet seeing it as an historical package, how can one not like it?
A Small Planet Boeing 737-300. Photo from Small Planet Airlines / Flickr
Small Planet Airlines started operations in October 2008 under the name FlyLal. In 2010, the airline decided to re-brand with its current name Small Planet.
They operate out of Vilnius International Airport (VNO) in Lithuania with a fleet of two Airbus A320s and six Boeing 737-300s. Small Planet offers charter services to four markets: Lithuania, Poland, Italy and the UK.
How can you not like this livery? Okay, maybe the yellow letters on the white fuselage wasn’t the best call in all lighting situations. However, the tail and the image of the globe is quite epic. The longer A320 has quite a bit of white and the livery does look a bit better on the smaller 737-300 in my opinion.
Not really related to the livery, it appears that their flight attendants have some pretty slick uniforms as well.
Thanks to @JaMiDez for pointing this one out.
Air Tahiti Nui Airbus A340-300 (F-OLOV) about to leave LAX. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren.
Air Tahiti Nui is a small airline based out of Faa’a International Airport in Papeete, Tahiti. They operated a fleet of only five Airbus A340-300 aircraft that are set up in a three class configuration. Each one of the aircraft has a unique name of one of the local islands: Bora Bora (F-OJTN), Mangereva (F-OJGF), Rangiroa (F-OSEA), Moorea (F-OSUN) and Nuku Hiva (F-OLOV). The airline was created to increase tourism and operations commenced on November 20, 1998.
Air Tahiti Nui’s livery is one that definitly stands out and I think in a nice way. The blues match the waters of Tahiti and the red stripping matches the flag of French Polynesia.
EVA Air Boeing 777-300ER.
EVA Air is an airline based in Taiwain and was founded in 1989. They started flight operations on July 1, 1991 and today they fly to over 40 international destinations.
The airline has mostly an all wide-body fleet of aircraft including the Airbus A330, Boeing 777 and the Boeing 747. They also have a small fleet of MD-90 aircraft.
The airline has a unique livery using green and orange. The green represents durability and the orange represents technological innovation. According to Wikipedia, “The tail globe logo is intended to represent stability and reliability, and its positioning on the tail, with one corner off the edge, represents service innovation.”
I feel that the livery is beautiful and best appreciated in person. I have heard from some that they aren’t as much of a fan of the orange and green, but you do not find many airlines showing off green and especially with orange. The previous generation of livery still had the green and orange striping, but had a bit too much white.
Image: Jeremy Dwyer-Li ndgren
Brand New Uzbekistan Boeing 767-300ER (UK67003) at Paine Field. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren.
Uzbekistan Airways is the national airline of Uzbekistan and started operations on May 31, 1992 after taking over service of Aeroflot’s service in the region. The carrier has a mixed fleet of aircraft including the Airbus A310, Airbus A320, Antonov-24, Avro RJ85, Boeing 757-200, Boeing 767-300ER, Ilyushin Il-114 and the Yak-40. The airline also has orders for two Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
This is one livery that surely stands out. Normally Boeing 767s at Paine Field do not stand out amount the 747s and 787s, but the Uzbekistan livery forces one to take notice. The first time I saw it, I was a bit shocked, but now it has started to grow a bit on me.
So why would an airline paint their aircraft to be light blue up top, white in the middle and green on the bottom with red lines seperating them? Well, take a look at the Uzbekistan flag and you get a pretty good idea of their thought process.
