The 15 coolest airline paint jobs in the world
15. Air Malta: The national airline of the small Mediterranean island nation recently revamped its livery to feature the Maltese Cross prominently on the tail and wingtips.
14. China Southern Airlines: Based out its hub in the city of Guangzhou, China Southern is the country's largest airline. Its elegant exterior design features a combination of multiple hues of blue with its tail dominated by a brilliant red kapok flower.
13. Skyteam: Although Skyteam is an airline alliance and not a single airline, its grey-and-blue livery, adorning many of the member fleets, is one of the most chic in the skies.
12. Arik Air: The upstart Nigerian airline flies with this attractive maroon-and-blue paint scheme.
11. Virgin Atlantic Airways: As with all Virgin Group companies, Virgin Atlantic carries Richard Branson's signature corporate logo. Even though it's been around in various iterations for a couple of decades now, the design still looks as modern and stylish as it did on the day it debuted.
10. British Airways: With a waving Union Jack adorning the tail, British Airways delivers a modern take on traditional British elegance.
9. Swiss International Airlines: Swiss International's white-and-red design is pure understated style.
8.Fiji Airways: The recently re-branded Air Pacific is the national airline of Fiji. Its tribal-esque exterior is evocative of the island's rich native culture.
7. Hainan Airlines: China's largest privately-owned airline has livery that evokes elements of China's culture and history. For the Chinese, red is symbolic of happiness and good fortune, while gold was the official color of China's imperial past.
6. Kulula: This South African low-cost carrier has built quite a reputation for interesting liveries, but its best effort so far is the 'Flying 101' design that doubles as a teaching tool for anyone interested in the different parts of an airliner.
Here's the view from the other side.
5. WestJet: In 2013, Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet painted one of its Boeing 737-800 jets with a Disney-themed paint job featuring Sorcerer Mickey on the plane's tail.
4. All Nippon Airways (ANA): Japan's ANA painted a few of its new Boeing 787 Dreamliners with Star Wars themed liveries to coincide with the release of the latest film in the franchise. One of the most famous is a 787-9 painted to look like R2D2.
3. Air Seychelles: Air Seychelles is the national airline for the eponymous small island nation situated off the coast of Africa. Its stunning livery consists of a pair of 'fairy terns' flowing amid a sea of tropical colors.
2. Hawaiian Airlines: Even 40 years after its founding, the airline's trademark Pualani (Flower of the Sky) logo is still the most beautiful and distinctive in the business.
1. Air New Zealand: Our winner! With its teal-and-white livery, dominated by the Maori Koru logo on the tail, this airline's planes are a pleasure to look at. However, as good as the normal paint scheme may be, this carrier's specialty jobs are even better...
...like its Boeing Dreamliner, painted in honor of the country's all-conquering rugby squad — the 'All Blacks.'
Or this Hobbit-themed design that promotes the movies filmed in the country.
And as the 'Official Airline of Middle Earth,' it's only fitting that the fearsome dragon Smaug adorns the sides of some of Air New Zealand's planes.
Bonus: No design is quite as evocative and effective in projecting American power as the one on Air Force One. Operated by the US Air Force's 89th Airlift Wing, the pair of Boeing 747-200-based VC25A's that ferry the Presidents around will literally bring any airport in the world to a screeching halt.
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