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.
Air Pacific Boeing 747-400 seen at Los Angeles (LAX).
Air Pacific was founded in 1947 and is the flag carrier of Fiji. Currently the airline is 51% owned by the Fijian government and a little over 46% owned by Qantas Airlines.
The airline operates a fleet of only six aircraft consisting of 2 Boeing 747-400s, and four Boeing 737s. They have orders for three Airbus A330s that they hope to put into service in March 2013 to replace their aging 747s. The A330s will be the airline’s first time purchasing brand new aircraft. Previously, Air Pacific had an order for eight Boeing 787s, but all eight were cancelled in April of 2011.
I know there are many folks who do not like liveries with a white fuselage, but I think the tail more than makes up for the white. Although the livery does look good on the Boeing 737, I think it is really at home on the 747.
Image: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
Jat Airways Boeing 737-300.
If you like dots and simplicity, boy do I have a livery for you — Jat Airways. The airline was founded in 1927, which makes it one of the world’s older airlines. JAT is the national airline of Serbia and operates out of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG).
JAT currently operates a fleet of Boeing 737-300 and ATR-72 aircraft that fly to mostly international destinations in Europe. The airline has had quite a few different liveries through out the years and some better than others.
The JAT Yugoslav Airlines livery seen on this DC-9 in 1986 has a very classic looking livery with the retro “JAT” circle on the tail. Then, with the introduction of the Boeing 737-300 to the fleet, JAT went with a similar livery, but with bare metal instead of white paint — not quite as nice looking in my opinion. In 2001, JAT updated their livery with a waving flag design on their tail and a predominate “JAT” on the front of the fuselage — which looked great on a DC-10.
To help celebrate their official name change to “Jat Airways” in 2003, the airline decided to hold a competition for a new livery. A simple livery involving dots ended up winning and is now on their entire fleet.
So… what are your thoughts?
Image by 64N21W
One of Air Inuit Boeing 737-200s (C-GMAI) taken in Montreal. CLICK FOR LARGER.
Air Inuit was founded in November 1978 and is based in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. The airline operates north — way north into Nunavik and Nunavut. Many of their destinations are isolated and cut off from the rest of the world. The airline becomes an integral part of many communities being able to survive.
When Air Inuit started operating up north, there was almost no aviation infrastructure and the airline had to get creative. From their website:
“When we first began flying to remote communities along our coasts, we faced many unique challenges. In the beginning, winter ice strips were built with community participation. In summer, improvised tundra strips had to be marked out. Dispatchers or pilots often radioed ahead, alerting the people to illuminate the community’s landing strip with the headlights of their ATV’s or snowmobiles.”
Today, Air Inuit operates a diverse fleet of older aircraft including the: DHC6 Twin Otter, Avro 748, Boeing 737-200 combi (be sure to catch the ski gravel deflector on the front landing gear), Dash 8 and King Air.
The photo shown on this post highlights Air Inuit’s new “goose livery.” Their older livery was not too shabby with some simple lines, but this new one is pretty darn slick and the orange really stands out against the snow.
Are you able to see the three geese on the tail?
Edit: Thanks to reader Ken Fielding for pointing out the gravel deflector not being a ski, “Airlines operating regularly into gravel strips, as Air Inuit do, fit them to stop the nosewheel kicking up stones which can be ingested by the engines. Quite a few MD-80’s had them fitted too for the same reason.”
Image: J P Gosselin
All Nippon Airways (ANA) recently announced an updated livery for the Boeing 787s and finally they are being seen out in the wild. ANA’s third 787 (registered JA805A) was officially delivered on December 30th, but it was not flown to Japan until January 4, 2012.
On January 14th, JA805A was used on the 787’s first regularly scheduled international flight from Haneda (HND) to Beijing (PEK). JA805A is ANA’s first 787 to have their international interior configuration with new staggered business class seating. ANA’s fourth 787 Dreamliner (JA807A) was delivered and flown to Tokyo on January 13th and most likely will be used on the Handeda (HND) to Frankfurt (FRA) route that ANA expects to start on January 21, 2012.
Here are some photos showing JA805A and JA806A’s new livery and interior:
ANA Boeing 787 (JA805A) departing Haneda Rwy34R as ANA1255 in the morning of 14 Jan 2012. Photo by Runway21R.
First scheduled international flight of 787 Dreamliner (JA805A) from Haneda (HND) to Beijing (PEK) on January 14, 2012. Photo by Kentaro Iemoto.
ANA Boeing 787 (JA805A) departing Haneda Rwy34R as ANA1255 in the morning of 14 Jan 2012. Photo by Runway21R.
First scheduled international flight of 787 Dreamliner (JA805A) from Haneda (HND) to Beijing (PEK) on January 14, 2012. Photo by Kentaro Iemoto.
ANA JA806A parked at Paine Field on December 27, 2012. Photo by James Polivka.
ANA's configuration for long haul service. Image from ANA.
All images found on Flickr and done by:
* James Polivka
* Runway21R
* Kentaro Iemoto
