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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German leisure airline Condor launched a new livery design in April 2022, featuring a distinct striped motif across five color variations: Sunshine yellow, Passion red, Sea blue, Island green, and Beach beige. This marks a significant departure from the airline’s traditional blue and yellow livery, which adorned its fleet for over 40 years.
The inspiration for the new design draws from summer holidays and beach life, reflected in the vertical stripes reminiscent of beach umbrellas and deck chairs. The tailfin showcases a larger rendition of the stripes and the Condor logo.
“Condor has undergone a transformation over the past two and a half years: From a subsidiary of a vertically integrated travel group to an independent airline that looks back proudly on its history and tradition, while at the same time embarking on the path to the future. We want to express this unmistakably through our corporate identity: Condor is vacation and Condor is unmistakable – like our new design, with which we are now launching into the future,” said Ralf Teckentrup, CEO of Condor, during the livery’s announcement in a press release.
“Our new trademark are stripes, our figurative mark stands for our origin and the colors for diversity. This triad is new, what remains is our passion. It has always made Condor unique and is therefore also reflected in our claim: Passion is our compass,” he added.
A Gradual Repainting Process
The airline’s new livery and branding were designed by Remo Masala, owner of the creative agency vision alphabet in Berlin. In a press release, Masala said that the new design seeks to give Condor “special visual independence.”
According to Condor, the new livery aims to convey a modern and dynamic brand identity while retaining its appeal to leisure travelers. The diverse color palette symbolizes the various travel experiences offered by the airline, transcending the limitations of a single color.
The rollout of the new livery is gradual, with an estimated 80% of the fleet expected to receive the stripes by 2024. Public reception toward the design has been mixed, with some appreciating its freshness and others expressing fondness for the classic look.
Currently, Condor has 40 aircraft in its fleet with up to nine on order. The leisure carrier primarily serves seasonal holiday destinations from its Frankfurt hub.
Looking for a new airplane model? Head over to our friends at the Midwest Model Store for a wide selection of airlines and liveries.
