Sky candy

With so many commercial passenger airlines around the world, it takes something special to stand out. But strong competition has led to some truly beautiful and innovative aircraft designs. From sleek branding to bold colours and cultural motifs, we’ve rounded up the most stunning commercial planes – past and present – that brighten our skies.

Click through this gallery to see the world's most beautiful planes...

Aer Lingus

As the official airline of the Irish rugby team, Aer Lingus unveiled a bold new livery in 2024 on an Airbus A320 (pictured), featuring players like Robbie Henshaw and a shamrock-adorned rugby ball on the tail. Year-round, the airline’s green-and-teal planes are easy to spot. A 2019 brand refresh modernised the shamrock logo with heart-shaped leaves and a tilt to reflect 'dynamism and speed'.

Aeroméxico

This Quetzalcóatl 787-9 Dreamliner, part of Aeroméxico’s fleet, is named after the ancient Mexican deity known as the feathered serpent. The result of a national design competition, it took nine days to paint due to its complexity. It remains one of the most distinctive aircraft in the skies.

The rest of Aeroméxico’s fleet typically features a sleek white fuselage, dark tail with the airline’s Eagle Knight logo and subtle red accents reflecting the colours of the Mexican flag.

Aircalin

You can’t miss Aircalin’s blooming lovely livery, featuring bold designs overlaid with hibiscus flowers. That is, if you happen to spy one of the planes on its limited routes between the South Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia and Brisbane, Sydney and Tokyo. The livery represents the natural beauty, biodiversity and culture of the overseas French territory.

Air Canada

Air Canada rebranded in 2017 to mark Canada’s 150th anniversary and the airline’s own 80th, unveiling a bold new livery. The iconic red maple leaf 'rondelle' now features prominently on the tail, underbelly and near the front of the fuselage, making it visible from nearly every angle. Set against a sleek black-and-white colour scheme with a striking black cockpit mask, the design gives the fleet a distinctive, modern identity.

Air Malta

Air Malta was long known for its colourful fleet, which became even more distinctive after a rebrand in 2012. The livery featured colour-blocking around the tail, reflecting the warmth and culture of the Maltese islands. Though Air Malta ceased operations in March 2024, its striking designs remain a memorable and stylish tribute to the nation’s identity.

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand’s fleet features a striking black-and-white livery that highlights national pride. A silver fern, a symbol of New Zealand, stretches along the fuselage, while the tail fin bears the koru logo rooted in Māori culture. Most planes are white with black detailing, but a few – including a 787-9 and a 777-300ER – sport a bold, all-black version that’s even more eye-catching.

All Nippon Airways

Japan’s largest airline teamed up with Disney in 2015 to launch three Star Wars themed jets, and as of 2025, two are still flying: one styled after R2-D2 and another in the golden hues of C-3PO. The BB-8 design has since been retired, but the remaining planes continue to turn heads and delight fans travelling across Japan or beyond.

American Airlines

American Airlines underwent a major rebrand in 2013, the first in over 40 years, after its merger with US Airways. The current design remains beautifully simple yet striking, with a bold, colourful tail fin representing the US flag in an abstract style.

British Airways

British Airways proves that simple classics can sometimes be best. While the airline has introduced special liveries over the years – including for the London 2012 Olympics and its centenary in 2019 – the core design has remained largely unchanged since its 1997 rebrand.

The current look pairs a white fuselage with a red and blue ribbon and the Chatham Dockyard Union Flag on the tail fin, creating a timeless tribute to its British heritage.

Brussels Airlines

Brussels Airlines launched its Belgian Icons series in 2015, celebrating national pride with a fleet of eye-catching liveries. One standout is Rackham, inspired by Tintin’s shark submarine from Red Rackham’s Treasure. The design wraps the plane in Hergé’s art, with comic scenes inside the cabin too. So popular was the livery, it was meticulously restored in 2021 to keep flying until at least 2026.

China Airlines

China Airlines’ current livery, introduced in 2016 and developed with Airbus, features elegant interlaced shades of blue and purple, paired with the airline’s signature red plum blossom on the tail fin. Subtle updates in recent years have seen the airline’s name made smaller and moved toward the rear of some aircraft, a move designed to emphasise Taiwanese identity while keeping the stylish design intact.

EgyptAir

In many ways EgyptAir has a relatively simple design, with a white livery emblazoned with the airline’s name and branding in blue. It’s the distinctive emblem, though, that makes it especially striking. The logo, covering the tail fin and sweeping near the nose, represents the sky-god Horus who takes the form of a falcon.

Etihad Airways

Etihad got its current, rather gorgeous look after a major design refresh in 2014 and the airline’s fleet has been a star of the skies ever since. The livery features a striking mosaic-style pattern of warm, earthy tones known as ‘Facets of Abu Dhabi’, which was inspired by the colours and landscape of the United Arab Emirates, from beaches and deserts to mountains.

Fiji Airways

The majority of Fiji Airways’ livery is pretty simple, with the name printed near the nose in a large, graphic font and the rest mostly plain white. And that just makes the tail fin stand out all the more. It’s earthy, intricate and beautiful in shades of brown, black and white, and features several Pacific tribal patterns and emblems with roots in Fijian heritage.

FinnAir

FinnAir takes its appearance pretty seriously, as evidenced by the airline’s ongoing collaboration with chic Finnish design house Marimekko, which started in 2012. Two of its aircraft wear famous patterns: one dressed in the company’s spotty Kivet pattern and the other sporting Unikko, characterised by large poppies. The design house also supplies the fleet with cabin textiles and tableware.

Gulf Air

Gulf Air’s fleet is a lesson in elegant simplicity, with white fuselages, gold accents and its iconic falcon logo on the tail. While gold has always been part of the brand, older designs were bolder, with red and green stripes from nose to tail. To celebrate its 70th anniversary in 2020, Gulf Air revived the retro look on a few aircraft – and those nostalgic liveries still make appearances today.

Hawaiian Airlines

Hawaiian Airlines' standard livery showcases the beloved icon of its brand, Pualani – ‘flower of the sky’ – gazing forward from the purple tail fin. Part of the airline’s identity since the 1970s, she was refreshed in 2017 with a bolder, more modern look. Along the fuselage, a silver maile lei woven with pakalana flowers symbolises Hawaiian culture and the aloha spirit.

Icelandair

Icelandair launched its Northern Lights-themed livery in 2015 as part of a campaign to encourage travellers to take a stopover in Iceland. Unsurprisingly, the design has proved popular. Now part of the fleet, the Hekla Aurora Boeing 757 wears the blue and green swirls of the aurora borealis across its body, while a LED mood lighting system on board recreates the effect in the main cabin.

Norwegian Air

Since Norwegian Air first took to the skies, the airline has honoured iconic figures on the tails of its aircraft. Many are Norwegian nationals, although the main thing they have in common is that they’re inspirational in some way. Those to be honoured with a tail fin portrait include Jane Austen, Roald Dahl, pioneering pilot Amy Johnson, Freddie Mercury and Norwegian figure skater Sonja Henie (pictured).

Qantas

Qantas’ signature look is a clean white fuselage with the iconic red-and-white kangaroo logo on the tail fin – a symbol of the airline since the 1940s. While the design has evolved, its simplicity and national identity remain instantly recognisable.

Even more striking is the Flying Art Series, a collection of aircraft featuring works inspired by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.The fleet includes designs such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye, a Dreamliner adorned with flowing patterns from a 1991 painting (pictured).

Southwest Airlines

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021 with a flurry of special liveries, including Freedom One, painted in a bold stars-and-stripes design. A special Disney-themed aircraft marked a joint milestone with Walt Disney World too (pictured). Even Southwest’s regular livery stands out, with its vivid blue, red and yellow colour scheme and a heart on the belly.

Thai Airways

Thai Airways doesn’t need one-off designs or limited-edition liveries to stand out. The airline’s everyday get-up is pretty special as it is. The most distinctive feature is the use of the brand’s signature purple, striped across the fuselage and tail fin, and used for the logo near the front. Its motif, designed to evoke an orchid and the fluidity of Thai silk, was designed in 1975 and given a modern refresh in 2005.

Vietnam Airlines

Vietnam’s national carrier bucks the trend for mostly white liveries and instead goes for a beautiful teal colour that extends from nose to tail. It’s perfectly complemented by the gilded accents, which brighten a stripe around the underbelly and the airline’s logo – a lotus flower. The combination makes it one of the loveliest fleets around.

Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic's bold red-and-white branding remains instantly recognisable, but since 2019, the airline has updated its iconic nose art. The traditional 'Flying Lady', inspired by 1940s pin-up art, has been replaced by the 'Flying Icons' – a series of diverse figures representing modern Britain.

These include characters like Oscar, a man in a rainbow leotard, and Red Velvet (pictured), who features on the aircraft of the same name. The icons are small and positioned near the nose, making them a fun detail for plane-spotters.

Air Tahiti Nui

Air Tahiti Nui, international carrier for the islands of French Polynesia, has a fleet of aircraft almost as beautiful as the scenery it flies through. Instead of settling on plain wording and block colours, it brings something different to the red, white and blue hues with intricate swirling patterns, representing the islands’ flora and fauna.

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is known for its fleet of eye-catching special liveries, each celebrating something unique. Recent highlights include X̱áat Ḵwáani ('Salmon People'), a striking design by Alaska Native artist Crystal Worl that honours Indigenous culture and the importance of salmon.

The colourful Spirit of the Islands showcases Hawaiian imagery, while Disney fans can spot planes featuring characters from Mickey Mouse to The Princess and the Frog, part of the airline’s ongoing collaboration with Disneyland Resort.

JetBlue

JetBlue’s 'Vacations' livery series is all about fun, sunshine and the joy of getting away – and it shows. The airline has three eye-catching tail designs in the collection: 'Hasta La Vista', 'Playa-way With Me' and the one pictured here, 'To Beach Their Own' – featuring a playful mosaic of colourful icons – from palm trees to waves – that capture the spirit of holiday adventures.