New national airline of Saudi Arabia – Riyadh Air – has unveiled its livery, and it’s stunning!
Purple is the way to go!
Saudi Arabia-based Riyadh Air has unveiled its first livery on a Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft (yes, the airline will have two liveries). The aircraft, registered as N8572C, is the first aircraft to join the airline’s fleet.
At the first glance, Riyadh Air’s livery looks stunning to say the least! The use of dark and light purple shades looks quite good, along with the writing “Riyadh Air” in bold on the fuselage. The signature “R” of Riyadh Air on the airplane tail and the engines adds to the beauty.
The new national airline of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia says that the livery “is inspired by the warmth and hospitality of the Kingdom and the vibrant lavender colors that carpet the desert in the spring”. The airline adds that it “has been designed to incorporate visual references to the Kingdom and the city which include the sweeping curves of Arabic script with the global campaign tagline ‘The Future Takes Flight’”.
Here’s a walk-around video of the Riyadh Air Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner:
Stay up to date: Sign up for my newsletter to never miss latest Aviation and Travel news.
Livery truly stands out
While most carriers opt for a plane white livery to save energy, Riyadh Air has chosen quite a bold livery with dark colours. Aircraft livery is one of the most important aspects of an airline’s branding as this is the element with which passengers will have the most engagement with. And because of this, airlines put a lot of thought and effort when finalising the livery on their aircraft.
Riyadh Air says that this is one of the two liveries that its aircraft will have. Liveries like the one unveiled now are not good from a energy-saving point of view for airlines having their base in a city like Riyadh which is in the middle of the desert. The dark colours don’t reflect the sunlight which adds up heat on the aircraft and as the heat increases, the work of Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) increases, thus increasing fuel consumption. So it seems that the second livery, if it features plain white livery, will be the most used and this purple livery will just be used on some aircraft. This is just a pure assumption. We will surely know what Riyadh Air’s plans are in due course of time.
About Riyadh Air
Riyadh Air will be second national airline of Saudi Arabia after Saudia. The airline will help the country to promote the growth in tourism and economic development as the country moves away from oil production.
Riyadh Air has 39 Boeing B787-9 Dreamliners on order with options for 33 more and is in the process of finalising the order for narrow body aircraft, with the Boeing B737MAX family being a strong contender.
Riyadh Air will leverage Saudi Arabia’s location to connect passengers from Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe and turn Riyadh into a aviation hub, competing with the likes of Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad. The carrier plans to connect more than 100 destinations by 2030 and plans to begin operations in early 2025.
Recently, during the International Air Transport Association’s Annual General Meeting, the airline got its Airline Designator Code “RX”.
Featured image by Riyadh Air
All the other images by Riyadh Air
What do you think of Riyadh Air’s livery? Let me know in the comments section below.
Follow IH Aviation and Travel on Social Media on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.