New Emirates livery celebrates Dubai airline's Arab heritage

The look is only the third in the airline's official aircraft brand colours in its 38-year history

Emirates new livery is only the third iteration of the airline's main brand identity since 1985. Photo: Emirates

Emirates is celebrating a refresh of its official livery.

The Dubai airline has revealed its latest design, which is only the third in the aircraft's brand colours since 1985.

The new design includes a more dynamic UAE flag design on the tailfin, with the country's standard portrayed in 3D.

The wingtips are painted red with the Emirates logo in Arabic calligraphy in white.

The UAE flag colours have also been painted on the wingtips, facing the fuselage.

“Aircraft livery is the most instantly recognisable brand real estate for any airline. It’s a visual representation of our unique identity, something we wear proudly, and display in all the cities we fly to around the world. We’re refreshing our livery to keep it modern, without losing the key elements of our identity such as the UAE flag on our tailfin and the Arabic calligraphy,” said Tim Clark, president of Emirates airline.

The first jet to be dressed with Emirates' redesigned livery is a newly retrofitted A380 superjumbo. Fresh from a makeover at Emirates Engineering, the double-decker plane registered A6-EOE, will make its first flight to Munich on Friday.

As well has changes to the wingtips and tailfin, the new design also features the word Emirates in gold lettering on the main body of the jet that is bolder and 32.5 per cent bigger.

On the underbelly, the airline has kept its red branding — first introduced in 2005. Lettering displaying the airline's website has been removed in the new design.

Emirates said it will apply the livery to its existing fleet with 24 A380s and Boeing 777s, which will sport the new design by the end of the year.

All future Emirates jets will be delivered in the new livery, from the first Airbus A350 that's due to join the fleet in August next year.

Emirates has regularly introduced one-off livery designs for sponsorship deals and special occasions such as the UAE’s 50th anniversary and the country's space mission.

Its original livery was unveiled when the Dubai airline launched in 1985, and underwent its only other refresh 14 years later, with the delivery of Emirates’ first Boeing 777-300 in 1999.