UTAir Tupolev Tu-154M RA-85057 arriving at Niederrhein Weeze Airport from Moscow Vnukovo, bringing in the soccer team of Anzhi Makhachkala for their match on Thursday Evening (9 August 2012, 8:00pm) against Vitesse Arnhem. Image by Marc Riedel.
Seeing a Tupolev TU-154 out in the wild is becoming a rare treat. Luckily, UTair still operates two Tu-154Ms, one in a striking blue and red livery.
UTair was founded in 1967 and is based at Khanty-Mansiysk Airport (HMA) in Russia. Originally the airline was part of the Aeroflot family and was renamed TAT after the break up of the USSR. Then, in 2003, the airline was again re-named to UTair.
The airline offers scheduled service to about 70 domestic and international destinations. UTair operates a diverse fleet of over 100 aircraft and 300 helicopters. They are in the process of updating their older aircraft with 20 Airbus A321s, 30 Boeing 737-800s and 24 Sukhoi SUperjet 100s on order.
This is a special livery seen on RA-85057. The livery has been with Samara Airlines and then South East Airlines before remaining with UTair. UTair’s standard livery is not nearly as colorful and a bit bland, so hopefully they keep the red white and blue flying until retiring the aircraft from their fleet.
A Wind Jet Airbus A319. Image by Daniel Blok / Flickr CC.
Try not to get too attached to this Wind Jet livery — the airline ceased operations on August 11, 2012.
The Italian-based airline was founded in 2003 and operated scheduled service in Italy and to destinations in Europe, to Egypt and seasonally to Israel.
Wind Jet operated a fleet of five Airbus A319s and seven Airbus A320s in an all economy format.
In January 2012, Alitalia started the process of merging with Wind Jet. The Italian antitrust authority gave Alitialia authorization to move forward, but were told they would have to give up slots on some of their most important routes. Altalia decided to pull out of the merger and Wind Jet was not able to stay in business.
I have to say that I love this livery. The orange nose, engines and tail go well together. It is not just any livery that can pull off a white body and colored nose. Too bad it will be flying no longer.
One of VivaColombia’s Airbus A320s. Image by Santiago Narayana via Wikipedia.
VivaColombia (5Z), according to their website, is “the first and only low-cost airline of Colombia.” They started in May of 2012 and operate a fleet of four Airbus A320s that service nine Colombian destinations.
They hope to grow their fleet by three additional A320s, all configured in a snug 180 seats, and expand to destinations in Central, South and North America.
The livery is simplistic and has different color balls, representing the three colors of the Colombian flag. I think the livery looks okay, but would probably look better on the shorter A319 or A318.
If the design looks familiar, probably because it is the same concept used by VivaAerobus, based in Mexico. Both airlines have some common investors, which explains the “stolen” livery design. I think it comes off better on the shorter Boeing 737-300 of VivaAerobus versus the longer A320.
It has been a long while since I have made a new post highlighting the many airline liveries we have now seen on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. These are all the liveries we have physically seen on the Dreamliner, so no computer composite images here:
We got to see United’s livery on the 787 for the first time yesterday. Image from United’s livestream.
Ethiopian Boeing 787 Dreamliner (ET-AOQ) taken in July 2012 by Tony Rodgers (aka Moonm) at Paine Field.
A big thanks to Tony Rodgers (moonm) for allowing me to use his Ethiopian 787 photo.
Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner seen at Farnborough in July 2012.
Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 787 Dreamliner taken in March 2012 at Paine Field.
JAL’s old livery on the 787 Dreamliner. Image by The Boeing Company.
ANA’s delivery livery, that showed up on the first two of their 787 Dreamliners. Taken at Paine Field.
ANA’s modified Dreamliner livery with the “787” on the side. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren.
The older ANA livery before the “787” was added to the side. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren.
Air India Boeing 787 taking off from Paine Field. Image by The Boeing Company.
China Southern’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Royal Air Maroc Dreamliner at Paine Field.
ZA003 at the Doha International Airport for the Dreamliner World Tour. Image by The Boeing Company.
ZA006 shows off the Dreamliner “light” livery. Image by The Boeing Company.
And where it all became. The Dreamliner livery seen on ZA001 on her maiden flight. Image by The Boeing Company.
So which one is your favorite? Your least favorite?
How well did you do?
Another great version of Ultimate Livery challenge. I received quite a few responses and some frustrated comments. Well, here are the answers:
#1: Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800
#2: American Airlines DC-3
#3: Great Wall Airlines Boeing 747-400F by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
#4: Maylasia Airlines Airbus A380
#5: AeroSvit Airlines E-Jet
#6: Rwandair Boeing 737-800
#7: Kuwait Airways Airbus A300
#8: Shenzhen Airlines Boeing 737-800 by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
Those who got all of the planes and liveries correct:
* David Lilienthal
* Goron Werner
* Antonio Tantalo
* Keith Goodman
Folks that missed only one aspect:
* Felix Estgen
* Manav Bhogal
* Andrew Arpagian
* Donald De Rosa
* Nick Bartolotta
* Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren (although two of the photos were his)
I think this one was probably a bit challenging. It seems that #3 (Great Wall Airlines) was the most difficult for people. Many also did not get #5 (guessing Gulf Air, which makes sense). #6 was another difficult one with many of you guessing Transaero for #6. Again, very close, but the lines are a bit different. Until next time…
