Editor’s Note: AirlineGeeks is excited to launch our ‘Livery of the Week’ series. Every Friday, a team member will share an airline livery, which can be from the past, present, or even a special scheme. Some airline liveries are works of art. The complexity associated with painting around critical flight components and the added weight requires outside-the-box thinking from designers. The average airliner can cost upwards of $200,000 to repaint, creating a separate aircraft repainting industry as a result.
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To celebrate the holiday season, SWISS International Air Lines has launched its annual Christmas campaign. Cleverly titled LXmas – with LX being SWISS’s International Air Transport Association (IATA) code – the celebration consists of special activities and contests. As part of LXmas, SWISS has painted two aircraft with red noses as a nod to the popular fictional reindeer.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Airbuses
For this year’s LXmas, SWISS has given red nose cones to two aircraft: a 20-year-old Airbus A340-300 registered as HB-JMA and a 28-year-old Airbus A320-200 registered as HB-IJJ. The subtle yet elegant addition consists simply of a red nose – a reference to Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Accordingly, the airline has nicknamed the aircraft “LXAirDeer.”
The SWISS livery is uniquely well-suited for the addition of a red tip. Consisting of the Swiss flag on the tail – a white cross on a red field – and red “SWISS” lettering on a white fuselage, the minimalist livery only has two colors: red and white. The red nose cone is therefore an addition that is noticeable without seeming out of place.
LXmas: Celebrating the Holiday Season
The Swiss flag carrier has held its LXmas Christmas campaign since 2017, with a two-year pause for the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, LXmas was centered around a special flight that took families to Lapland in Finland, a region that has been connected to Santa Claus’ North Pole residence. After arriving in the winter wonderland, the lucky families would experience a few days of holiday festivities before returning to Switzerland.
Since the pandemic, the LXmas campaign has consisted of special activities and contests. For example, passengers traveling on a pair of flights between Zurich and Palma de Mallorca earlier this week on December 6 were accompanied on board by Santa Claus. While flying on the red-nosed A320, Santa handed out chocolates to passengers. Other LXmas festivities this year include airport gate events and social media contests. The red-nosed LXAirDeer first made an appearance in 2019 and returned in 2022.
“We’re really looking forward to celebrating this Christmas with our guests well beyond Switzerland’s borders,” said SWISS Head of Marketing Stefan Vasic in a press release announcing the launch of this year’s holiday campaign. “Through ‘LXmas With You’ we don’t just aim to spread the festive spirit: we want to mark this special time of the year when we all come together and truly appreciate one another. Christmas is always best when it’s shared, we feel, and when we can experience all the magic of Advent together.”
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