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.
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Qatar Airways’ standard livery is defined by a relatively simple combination of gray, white, and burgundy, anchored by the large oryx that covers the aircraft’s vertical stabilizer. Although the airline has grown dramatically since the design was introduced, the basic appearance of its aircraft has remained largely unchanged for two decades.
The current livery dates to 2006, when Qatar Airways unveiled a new corporate look at the ITB travel show in Berlin. It represented the airline’s first major livery change since its relaunch in 1997 and initially appeared on the carrier’s then-new Airbus A340-600.
The most prominent feature is the oryx displayed across the tail. The animal is native to the Arabian Peninsula and serves as Qatar’s national animal. Qatar Airways had already used an oryx in its branding, but the 2006 redesign substantially increased its size, allowing the burgundy emblem to cover nearly the entire vertical stabilizer.
The redesign also brought the large “QATAR” titles that remain on the fleet today. Burgundy lettering stretches across the forward fuselage, accompanied by the airline’s name in Arabic. Notably, Qatar Airways dropped the word “Airways” from the exterior titles as part of the 2006 update.
The fuselage itself uses two subtly different colors. The upper section is painted light gray, while the lower portion is white. The understated background places greater emphasis on the burgundy titles and tail, which have become the airline’s primary visual identifiers.
Qatar Airways also incorporated its branding in areas that are less visible from the terminal. When the current livery debuted, the airline added the oryx to the belly of its A340-600 as well as the aircraft’s winglets. The belly logo made the brand identifiable from below, particularly during takeoff and landing.
The design has since been adapted to virtually every major aircraft type to enter Qatar Airways’ fleet. Airbus A320-family jets, A330s, A340s, A350s and A380s have worn the scheme, along with Boeing 737s, 777s and 787 Dreamliners.
Perhaps one of the most prominent applications came with the Airbus A380. The enormous tail of the double-decker gave Qatar considerably more space for the oryx, with the airline noting before the type entered service that the logo would cover the aircraft’s 24-meter-high tail.
Qatar has also used its standard scheme as the foundation for numerous special liveries. Aircraft have carried designs promoting sporting partnerships, major events, and organizations ranging from Formula 1 to Paris Saint-Germain. Even on many of those aircraft, however, the familiar burgundy oryx remains visible on the tail.
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