How Airlines Paint Their Aircraft

When boarding, you probably don’t think about how many liters of paint it took for a multi-ton fuselage to get its final look. Usually, planes carry the airline’s name, but there are exceptions when their exterior is turned into a work of art. If you decide to buy tickets to Tokyo on Kupi.com or to Paris, be sure to look around: there’s always a chance to encounter a true masterpiece.

ANA’s ‘Sea Turtles’

Japanese All Nippon Airways (ANA) operates three of the world’s largest passenger aircraft — Airbus A380s—in a unique Flying Honu design. These giants are decorated in the style of Hawaiian sea turtles. Each has its own chosen color: blue (Lani) symbolizes the sky, emerald (Kai) the ocean, and orange (Ka La) the Hawaiian sunset. You can see them on regular flights between Tokyo and Honolulu.

Pokémon ANA

But turtles are not the only decoration on the airline’s planes. In February 2026, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon brand, ANA introduced three new special aircraft: Pokémon Jet Red, Green, and Blue. The designs refer to the very first games in the series. Additionally, in collaboration with The Pokémon Company, the world’s first in-flight safety video featuring Pokémon was created.

Brussels Airlines’ ‘World of Tintin’

Belgians are proud of their heritage. In February 2026, the airline updated its ‘Belgian Icons’ series, launching a new A320neo (OO-SNJ) aircraft dedicated to Tintin’s space adventures. The fuselage depicts characters in a state of weightlessness, and inside the cabin, an entire comic book plot unfolds: a rocket launching from Earth, the risk of collision with an asteroid. The drawings are located on the overhead bins.

Condor Airlines’ Striped Flights

The German low-cost carrier has cemented its reputation as Europe’s most vibrant airline. Its fleet is painted in colorful stripes, reminiscent of beach umbrellas or towels. In 2026, new color combinations were added to the standard yellow and green, including a limited black-and-white livery. One look at such a plane, and the holiday mood blossoms spontaneously!

Frontier Airlines’ Animals

American low-cost carrier Frontier continues to expand its ‘zoo’. The tail of each aircraft features a real animal with its own name. In 2026, the list was supplemented with new characters, including an axolotl and a monkey. This way, the company reminds us of the importance of preserving biodiversity.

Kulula Air’s Instruction Plane

Although Kulula ceased operations, their famous acid-green Flying 101 livery will forever remain in marketing textbooks. The entire fuselage was covered with instructional arrows: ‘captain’s seat’, ‘front door’, ‘lavatory’, and the legendary phrase above the flight recorder: ‘Black box (which is actually orange)’. An excellent example that aviation can be witty.

Why is creating a livery difficult?

It’s not just ‘painting a fence’. A layer of paint adds 200 to 500 kg to the aircraft, while kilometers of adhesive tape are used to create detailed patterns, and the paint itself must withstand temperature fluctuations from +40°C to -60°C, without losing vibrancy or cracking from vibrations.

Travel becomes brighter when your transport has its own character!