Editor’s Note: AirlineGeeks is proud to present 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.
Have an idea for a livery that we should highlight? Drop us a line.
Despite the varying liveries of its member airlines, SkyTeam has a distinctive livery worn on select aircraft throughout its members’ fleets. Each SkyTeam member has a few airframes that bear the alliance’s distinctive silver and blue paint job.
The livery has a silver fuselage with a dark blue tail that features the SkyTeam logo. Along the rear of the fuselage, there is a large version of the ribbon from the alliance’s logo. Toward the front of the plane, the SkyTeam name is displayed in blue above the carrier’s name.
SkyTeam’s livery debuted on March 31, 2009, on a Delta Boeing 767-400 registered as N844MH, with the inaugural flight for the livery being from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Milan’s Malpensa Airport. The aircraft remains in the SkyTeam livery today.
The paint job was designed by Brandimage – Desgrippes & Laga, a design firm based in Northbrook, Illinois. Over the years, it has been featured on aircraft ranging from a Czech Airlines ATR-42 to a China Airlines Boeing 747-400.
Looking for a new airplane model? Head over to our friends at the Midwest Model Store for a wide selection of airlines and liveries.
