Cool design above 30,000 ft

With the summer holidays nearly over a lot of us will have spent a significant amount of time in airplanes. And I have to admit I do like a nice, clean and comfy interior but am usually not too bothered about the outside of the plane. However, while in Germany for a weekend recently, I remembered some aircraft liveries that really stood out from the crowd. So here are some examples.

Let's start with a German design and what better way than the co-operation between German airline TUIfly and Haribo, as Haribo was founded in my hometown Bonn. What’s sweeter than this?

Another airline that really stands out with its funny liveries is South African low-fare airline Kulula. One of their airplanes, called "Flying 101", was entirely covered with details and funny remarks about the plane. The captain’s window is marked with the big cheese (”captain, my captain!”), the co-pilot’s window with co-captain (the other pilot on the PA system) and the jump seat is for wannabe pilots.

Photos - by Malcolm Nason

  In addition, the following descriptions of plane parts can be found:
    •    galley (cuppa anyone?)
    •    avionics (fancy navigation stuff)
    •    windows (best view in the world)
    •    wing #1 and #2
    •    engine #1 and #2 (26 000 pounds of thrust)
    •    emergency exit = throne zone (more leg room baby!)
    •    seats (better than taxi seats)
    •    some windows = kulula fans (the coolest peeps in the world)
    •    black box (which is actually orange)
    •    landing gear (comes standard with supa-fly mags)
    •    back door (no bribery/corruption here)
    •    tail (featuring an awesome logo)
    •    loo (or mile-high club initiation chamber)
    •    rudder (the steering thingy)
    •    stabiliser (the other steering thingy)
    •    a.p.u. (extra power when you need it most)
    •    galley (food, food, food, food…)
    •    boot space
    •    ZS-ZWP (OK-PIK) = secret agent code (aka plane’s registration)
    •    overhead cabins (VIP seating for your hand luggage)
    •    fuel tanks (the go-go juice)
    •    cargo door
    •    aircon ducts (not that kulula needs it… they’re already cool)
    •    front door (our door is always open…unless we’re at 41 000 feet)
    •    cockpit window = sun roof
    •    nose cone (radar, antenna, and a really big dish inside)


And here are three more examples of liveries Kulula has done in the past.

Obviously there are lots more of impressive aircraft liveries out there so maybe I'll spot some on the way to my holidays.