Special themed liveries have become an important mainstay of the aviation industry, with airlines keen to promote their latest dazzling paint job in some partnership with the new hit Hollywood movie or sports event.
Such promotional tie-is are often big business with collaborations between airlines and organizations sometimes spanning several years, such as Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways’ (ANA) Star Wars Project.
As well as commercial partnerships, some airlines opt to adorn aircraft in a new livery to promote animal causes or to celebrate a particular time in the year like Valentine’s Day or Easter.
A particularly popular time of year for unveiling a new special livery is during the festive holiday season, with Santa Claus and his reindeer among some of the most popular designs.
While applauding the intention to do something nice for Christmas it’s safe to say that the standard of the artwork is of a varying degree.
So, let’s look at some of the most memorable (and forgettable) Christmas-themed liveries unveiled by airlines.
SWISS
In 2022, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) unveiled one of its Airbus A320neos decorated with a big Rudolph the Red nosed reindeer-inspired new look.
Instead of the usual white nose, a red one was attached to celebrate one of the festive season’s most adored characters.
SWISS has continued the tradition since 2022 with an Airbus A320neo, registered HB-JDG, and an A330-300, registered HB-JHB, both operating with the iconic red nose over Christmas.
It is the simplicity of the red nose against the white SWISS fuselage that makes this design so effective and already a firm favorite among travelers.
Air Berlin
Air Berlin was positioned as Germany’s second largest airline when it was riding high in one Europe’s most desirable markets before stopping operations in 2017.
The end finally came after Air Berlin’s largest shareholder Etihad halted financial support, and the carrier was eventually carved up between several airlines such as Lufthansa and easyJet.
While the airline is now somewhat forgotten, its legendary Christmas-themed liveries have certainly not been.
Air Berlin dominated the Christmas skies with its incredible festive designs that were packed with detail and humor, and no expense was spared to put a smile on its passengers’ faces.
Finnair
As the official airline of Santa Claus, you would expect Finland’s flag carrier Finnair to embrace the festive period with open arms.
According to Finnair it has been the official airline of Santa Claus since 1983 with the white-bearded fellow living in Lapland, Finland for as long as anyone can remember.
Among the simple aircraft designs adopted by Finnair during Christmas is an Airbus A321 with a Santa Claus inside a large red circle and ‘Official Airline of Santa Claus’ written close by.
Another festive livery featured a reindeer towards the back of an Airbus A350-900.
Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines has led the way with its festive liveries and “happy holidays”-themed merchandise.
In 2022, Alaska Airlines unveiled a stunning festive livery full of sparkle and color to support important causes through its Mileage Plan.
And in 2021, Alaska Airlines and Starbucks teamed up to release a special holiday livery.
The results were a little disappointing though with the livery featuring two Starbucks signature holiday drinks and ‘Merrier Together’ painted across the fuselage.
SAS
You would be stretching the definition of Christmas-themed livery to include Scandinavian Airlines’ (SAS) offering from the mid-2010s.
The festive SAS Boeing 737-700 appeared in 2015 with simply ‘Merry Christmas’ inscribed across the fuselage in blue lettering.
Qantas
In December 2024, Qantas unveiled two new festive liveries on a QantasLink Q400 Dash-8 nicknamed “Dasher-8”, and a Boeing 737 called “Roo-dolph”.
The Q400 Dash-8 featured a bundle of Christmas presents and the Boeing 737 included Santa Claus himself.
A Qantas Freight A321 aircraft decorated with a ‘Santa’s Freight’ livery was also unveiled to transport thousands of presents across Australia in weeks leading up to Christmas.
In 2023, the Q400 Dash-8 was adorned with Santa and his sleigh being pulled along by kangaroos rather than the traditional reindeer.
Titan Airways
In 2023, Titan Airways turned its all-white Airbus A321-200 into a suitably festive aircraft as it prepared to commence daily Christmas flights to Ivalo, Finland.
The Lapland-bound plane’s tail was given a Santa Claus inspired makeover and ‘A Christmas Like No Other’ was written along the side of the fuselage.
Ryanair
Ryanair ruins Christmas by killing Santa ✈️ This pic never gets old 😂 #confessionsofatrolleydollycountdowntochristmas #christmas #santaclaus pic.twitter.com/zvOcbLLXFX
— Confessions of a Trolley Dolly (@_CoaTD) December 8, 2017
Ryanair showed its humorous side with a Christmas-themed aircraft design in 2005 that appeared to show a splattered Santa Claus across the nose of a Boeing 737-200.
The cheeky design saw a faceless Santa Claus and a sack of presents sprawled across the front of the plane as if he had been hit midair.
An absolute classic.
British Airways
In 1994, British Airways unveiled a stupendous Christmas-inspired livery across the fuselage of a Boeing 737-200, registered G-BKYK.
On one side Santa Claus was painted flying through the sky like Superman with rocket boosters firing from his boots, while on the opposite side a starry Christmas night was pictured with a cottage in the snow.
What made the designs even more unique was that they were created by two children who won a livery drawing competition for the BBC kids’ show Blue Peter.
More of this please, airlines!