Aircraft today are like flying billboards. How a commercial airline decides to brand themselves goes a long way to distinguishing themselves in an ever-increasingly competitive commercial market. Below we look at 10 of the coolest examples of airlines branding themselves through creative use of tail art.

1. Air India Express – Taj Mahal

Image by chaity

This low-cost subsidiary of Air India is based in Mumbai and mostly flies routes to the Middle East and South East Asia. Each plane features a different tail art image expressing a unique facet of Indian culture, tradition or history. Beautifully executed, these are works of art! The Taj Mahal is one of the most enduring images of India and therefore deserves to be top of our list.

2. Air India Express – Peacock

Image by Stuart Lawson

Here is another example of the stunning tail art that Air India Express features on the tail of their aircraft.

3. Air India Express – Oil Lamps

Image by 713 Avenue

One more image from the fleet of Air India Express. If only all airlines would take a page from their book!

4. Frontier Airlines – “Ozzy” the Orca

Image by Drewski2112

Frontier Airlines, a low-cost airline based out of Denver, Colorado was founded in 1994. They fly within the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica. Under the company slogan “A Whole Different Animal,” each of their planes depicts a different animal. This one has “Ozzy” the Orca Whale!

5. Frontier Airliines – “Hank” the Bobcat

Image by Drewski2112

“Hank” the Bobcat is another example of the amazing detail which goes into the animal paintings on their aircraft tails and makes Frontier Airlines stand out from their competitors.

6. Frontier Airlines – “Sebastian” the Hawk

Image by Razvan Socol

Wings spread as if he has just landed is “Sebastian” the Hawk – another one of the exceptional tail art pictures from Frontier Airlines.

7. Frontier Airlines – “Domino” the Fawn

Image by planephotoman

Isn’t she cute? Just like Bambi ready to take her first steps in the glade. “Domino” is our final example of Frontier Airlines nature art.

8. First Air

Image by caribb

First Air, a North American airline based out of Kanata, Ontario in Canada flies from Ottawa and Montreal into the North – Nunavut and Northwest Territories. This beautiful snowy white bird speaks of the frozen north where this charter airline flies to.

9. Alaska Airlines

Image by Makaristos

What is it about the airlines which service the North? They all seem to brand themselves with stylish tail art. Alaska Airlines, which flies out of Tacoma/Seattle Airport and services Portland, Los Angeles and Anchorage Alaska, has this smiling Eskimo as their tail image.

10. British Airways – Ethnic Livery

(Imagines by Wikipedia)

Sadly, tail art is not always appreciated as much as it should be. In 1997 British Airways introduced a new livery design to their fleet of aircraft. The Utopia, or world-art, tail fins explored imagery by international artists and inspired by the countries that BA flies to. These new images came under fire from those who didn’t think it appropriate that BA was turning away from its traditional imagery. Even Margaret Thatcher entered the fray when she covered the tail fin on a model 747 with her handkerchief and said “we fly the British flag, not these awful things.” They were eventually removed entirely in 2001. For fans of tail art, they were a colourful addition to the aircraft fleet and are sorely missed.

This was a guest post was written by Knight Hooson, a writer for Australian credit card comparison website that compares the best airline credit cards and rewards credit cards, helping to stretch your dollars as far as possible.