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Aer Lingus Finishes Year Long Rebrand

An Aer Lingus Airbus A320 sporting the carrier’s new Euro-white colors. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Earlier in 2019, the flag carrier of Ireland, Aer Lingus, began a brand refresh, switching to a Euro-white livery. The airline is repositioning itself as the best way to get to Ireland and also as a gateway to the rest of Europe. The rebrand has changed just about every facet of the airline from livery to uniforms.

New Livery

For over 20 years, Aer Lingus planes were painted in the iconic all green livery, noticeable by most at any airport one of the carrier’s planes were operate to. This changed in January 2019 when the airline introduced its Euro-white liver, the first step towards rebranding the carrier.

The new livery, while criticized by some as being a boring Euro-white scheme that is seen on many carriers in Europe these days, Aer Lingus still manages to retain its Irish charm. The traditional shamrock is still proudly displayed on the tail, doors and winglets.

The shift away from using too much color is a strategy some airlines including Lufthansa have gone with, in an effort to look more elegant. Airlines like Lufthansa claim that too much color on aircraft and big text reminds people of low-cost carriers such as Wizzair and U.S.-based Spirit Airlines. This is not how Aer Lingus wants to be perceived since they are a full-service carrier.

The airline has even taken great pain to pick the best font for the words “Aer Lingus” painted on the side of the aircraft. People who read Celtic will recognize that the “g” in Aer Lingus is the same style as is found in the Celtic alphabet.

This change is aligned with the airline’s new goal of not being just an Irish airline but an international one. It is no longer just an airline that flies to Ireland but an airline that connects passengers to Europe through Ireland. The airline expects half of its passengers to be connecting through its hub in Dublin. The airline has gone from 10 transatlantic aircraft in 2015 to 19 in early 2020.

New Aircraft

The next step in the rebrand has included the addition of new Airbus A321LR aircraft that can start serving smaller markets in the U.S. These aircraft, however, have been delayed with the fourth aircraft arriving just this February when it was expecting at least four A321LR frames last summer.

These aircraft are expected to take over some of the older Boeing 757-200 aircraft currently flying. Aer Lingus currently is replanning its growth strategy due to delays with new routes that were supposed to be launched last summer being pushed to as late as early 2022 as a result of the late A321LR deliveries.

The Irish carrier also took delivery of the final A330-300 produced by Airbus last week. Aer Lingus also has five Airbus A350-900s on order.

New Uniforms

The final piece of the rebrand is a complete overhaul of the employee uniforms. Aer Lingus has introduced a series of new uniforms this past month. The uniforms are designed by Louise Kennedy who also designed the previous uniforms and was brought back due to her existing deep relationship with the brand.

Most of the uniforms have moved away from being mainly green and now include darker colors such as navy with green accents. While less noticeable than the old uniforms, they still accent the colors of Ireland.

All that is left now is more of the airline’s A321 aircraft to come in but it is otherwise well on its way to transforming itself into an international carrier and will continue to grow as the integration with parent company IAG grows.

Hemal Gosai

Author

  • Hemal Gosai

    Hemal took his first flight at four years old and has been an avgeek since then. When he isn't working as an analyst he's frequently found outside watching planes fly overhead or flying in them. His favorite plane is the 747-8i which Lufthansa thankfully flies to EWR allowing for some great spotting. He firmly believes that the best way to fly between JFK and BOS is via DFW and is always willing to go for that extra elite qualifying mile.

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