Retrojets: Qatar Airways joins trend for old-school plane liveries

The airline marks 25 years of flying with a special Boeing 777 design

Qatar Airways' Boeing 777 aircraft with retro livery. Photo: Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways has joined a host of other airlines in celebrating an anniversary with a large slice of nostalgia.

The airline has kitted out one of its Boeing 777 aircraft with a retro livery to mark 25 years of operation.

It made its debut operating as Flight QR 41 from Hamad International Airport, Doha, to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and is set to be used on other routes during the rest of the year.

The retro move follows on from Saudi Arabia's airline Saudia marking 75 years last year.

Saudia also gave a Boeing 777 the retro treatment with a 1972 livery complete with a "75 years" logo.

In 2019, British Airways celebrated its centenary with four different retro liveries.

The first retro livery was a British Overseas Airways Corporation design, which was used from 1964 to 1974. It then rolled out a Landor design adorned by the British Airways fleet from 1984-1997, and took to the skies on a Boeing 747. The final one involved repainting an Airbus A319 in the British European Airways livery which was originally used between 1959 and 1968. The fourth was a Boeing 747 in Negus livery, which graced the flee between 1973 and 1984.

Retro liveries have been used by many other airlines in past years, not least by the likes of Lufthansa to mark 60 years in 2016, KLM to mark 80 years in 2009 and Air France to mark 75 years in 2008.

In the UAE, Etihad Airways and Emirates have created many special-edition designs to spread important messages and mark occasions, such as the Year of Zayed or to encourage support for wildlife.

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