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Lufthansa Shows Off New Livery Prior to Highly-Anticipated Unveiling Event

Lufthansa’s 747-8i in the new livery rolling out of a hangar (Photo: LufthansaNews on Twitter)

It is hard to keep a secret as big as a 747. Last week, a few pictures were leaked and German carrier Lufthansa had no choice but to go with the flow; its livery redesign was exposed and caused mixed emotions amongst aviation enthusiasts and theĀ general public.

After years of a distinctive yellow that has identified the brand throughout the world, Lufthansa decided to change to a blue and white scheme. Fortunately, the crane logo created by Otto Firle in 1918, will live on, which was originally created for Deutsche Luft-Reederei, the first German airline.

In 1926, Deutsche Luft Hansa adopted the symbol and used until it was dissolved by the Allies in 1951. Two years later, Luftag, (short for ā€œAktiengesellschaft fĆ¼r Luftverkehrsbedarfā€) was founded, and set its headquarters in Cologne. In 1954, Luftag decided to acquire the name, trademark (Firle’s crane) and the brand colors: blue, white, and yellow.

The first 747-8i in the airline’s new paint scheme (Photo: LufthansaNews on Twitter)

After the initial confusion, more photos and information was released by the company, which rendered the unveiling event that was set to take place this week a bit unsurprising. The Boeing 747-8i that is going to present the livery, D-ABYA, won’t be alone in the task: an Airbus A321 with registration D-AISP will visit Paris and Milan as part of the unveiling tour.

The tour schedule for the first A321 to be painted in the new scheme (Image: Lufthansa)

It is quite subjective to analyze Lufthansa’s new livery from a like/don’t like standpoint. Nevertheless, it is a bold move to change such a distinctive brand for a carrier that has an image that is recognized and remembered so easily worldwide. As a PR strategy, it has proven to be a good move: it’s been almost a week and there are still a fair amount of voices ā€” for and against ā€” that will mention Lufthansa.

Pablo Diaz

Author

  • Pablo Diaz

    Since a little kid, Pablo set his passions in order: aviation, soccer, and everything else. He has traveled to various destinations throughout South America, Asia, and Europe. Technology and systems expert, occasional spotter, not-so-dynamic midfielder, blogger, husband, father of three cats; he believes that Latin America's aviation industry past, present, and future offer a lot of stories to be told.

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