Emirates officially unveils its new livery with a freshly painted Airbus A380

Emirates unveiled a new livery with a freshly painted Airbus A380 at Dubai International Airport (DXB).

The new livery, featuring a newly designed United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag, which is “much more dynamic and flowing with a 3D effect artwork” and red wingtips (sharklets) with an Emirates logo in white to create a contrast, is the third different design the airline has featured since its inception in 1985. Another change can also be seen from inside the aircraft, as the inner side of the sharklets feature a UAE flag.

“The signature gold “Emirates” lettering across the main body in English and Arabic is also bolder, and 32.5% larger. On the aircraft belly, Emirates has retained its iconic red branding which it introduced in 2005,” read the airline’s press release, issued on March 16, 2023. Its website link was also removed from the livery.

An Airbus A380, registered as A6-EOE, was the first aircraft in the Emirates fleet to feature the new design. The aircraft will fly from DXB to Munich Airport (MUC) on March 17, 2023, as flight EK51, marking the official debut of the livery in the sky.

“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,” stated Tim Clark, the President of Emirates.

According to Emirates, the new livery will be applied to 24 aircraft by the end of 2023, including 17 Boeing 777-300ERs. All aircraft that will arrive from the factory will feature the new design, starting with the first Airbus A350 in August 2024. In addition to the 50 Airbus A350-900s on order, the DXB-based carrier has five Boeing 777F, 115 777X, and 30 787-9 aircraft in its order book, per ch-aviation.com data.

A6-EOE was first spotted with the fresh paint job on March 15, 2023, with pictures posted on Twitter revealing the changes that have now been announced by the carrier. However, four other Airbus A380s (A6-EVM, A6-EUW, A6-EVC, and A6-EVE) have left DXB following a cabin retrofit, which included the fitting of Premium Economy seats, without the new livery.

Previously, A6-EOE was painted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the UAE, sporting that livery between October 1, 2022, and March 15, 2023. It replaced the Dubai Expo promotional design, which the aircraft was seen with between December 2018 and October 2021.