Blue1, the second largest Finnish airline, asked if its new Boeing 717 fleet could be turned into a piece of art. The answer was Flowing. It is a series of unique paint schemes for individual aircrafts – not a common concept in the airline industry.

Realising the complicated paint scheme and detailed patterns required close co-operation with decal providers, paint specialists and aircraft technology experts. First the aircraft is painted completely white, then the patterns are masked and delicate two-color gradient painted by hand. Removing the mask reveals the white lines.

The different patterns are inspired by movement of water: rain drops, waves, streams and trickles. It links the new livery concept with Blue1’s history: its previous fleet was named after Finnish lakes. Six aircrafts carrying the Flowing livery have now taken off and the concept is being continued and extended into in-flight products.

Why all this effort while most airlines are doing just fine with one livery? For Blue1 it was a natural choice since most of their customers are regular business travellers. Distinguishing the individual aircrafts is part of making the service more personal – even if it is only that short moment when you notice that you are flying on your favourite plane today.

The original Flowing concept was created together with Magali Abraham and Aalto University.