brussels airlines

Brussels Airlines “Atomium” livery

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(Courtesy Visit Brussels)

Brussels Airlines’ newest icon plane honors the Atomium

Designed and built for the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958 and created to honor the metals industry and the atomic era, the futuristic-looking Atomium monument is still around.

The structure wasn’t supposed to last beyond the fair’s run, but today it is a tourist destination, event venue, museum and the iconic symbol of Brussels and Belgium.

Now it’s also the inspiration for the newest livery in Brussels Airlines’ Belgian Icons series.

This livery design, by Belgian architect Thomas Faes, of Faes Architecture, was the winner in a Brussels Airlines contest that drew more than 900 designs seeking to capture the ‘essence’ of Belgium.

To transform the design into an airplane paint job required over 400 liters of paint and took about 2,400 hours to complete.

And while the outside of this Airbus A320 is pretty swanky, take a look at the inside of the aircraft. It tells the story of the Atomium structure with images of original sketches, historical photos and present-day imagery.

The other Belgian Icons airplanes

The Brussels Airlines Icons liveries have paid tribute to a wide variety of icons in Belgian culture, including the Smurfs characters and artists Magritte and Bruegel. Several of the special liveries have been retired, but liveries honoring Tintin, the Red Devils and Red Flames men’s and women’s soccer teams, and the Tomorrowland festival are still in motion.

Brussels Airlines honors Flemish artist Bruegel with livery

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Brussels Airlines has a tradition of honoring Belgian icons on its airplanes.

So far, they’ve painted planes to honor Tintin, Magritte, the Red Devils, Tomorrowland and the Smurfs.

Now, Brussels Airlines has a 6th plane honoring a Belgian icon. This one is inspired by Flemish painter Bruegel the Elder.

Each side of the airplane has a different design and there are images both inside and out.

The Bruegel plane is part of a larger project to promote the Flemish Masters in 2019 and 2020.

To do that, Brussels Airlines and VISITFLANDERS are offering the Hi Belgium Pass: The Flemish Masters Experience. The pass gives visitors the opportunity to fly to Brussels from 48 European cities, take unlimited train rides to Belgian cities and visit a long list of cultural attractions for free, including Flemish Masters exhibitions and collections across Flanders and Brussels.

One bonus attraction: at Brussels Airport there’s an animated art installation at gate A40 that highlights the figures in Bruegel’s art.

Brussels Airlines rolls out its Smurf plane

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Brussels Airlines revealed its 5th airplane paint scheme featuring a Belgian icon.

This one is called Aerosmurf and it honors those beloved small, blue characters known as Smurfs, which were created by cartoonist Peyo.

 

 

Both the inside AND the outside of the airplane are Smurf-themed, with 19 Smurfs on the fusealage.

Here are the details from the airline:

“In the cockpit we find Smurfette as the captain and Papa Smurf as co-pilot. …On the left hand side Harmony Smurf is playing the Belgian national anthem on the saxophone – a Belgian invention – together with another smurf who is playing the harmonica, referring to the famous Belgian musician Toots Thielemans. On the crew smurf’s trolley we find a miniature Atomium.

On the right side of the plane a crew smurf is serving Belgian fries and waffles to the smurf passengers. Aerosmurf also has two secret passengers, Gargamel and Azrael, trying to escape through a hatch in the belly of the plane. A treat for plane spotters, since they are only visible during takeoff and landing.”

Inside, passengers will see Smurfs footprints on the carpet, see a Smurfs video and hear special Smurf-themed boarding music.

The Smurf design is by Marta Mascellani, whose entry was the winner in a contest voted on by the public.

Other liveries in the Belgian icons series honor the artist Magritte, Rackham (a Tin Tin themed plane), Trident (dedicated to the Belgian soccer team, the Red Devils) and Amare, honoring an  iconic Belgian music festival.

Here are some more AeroSmurf photos.

Flying Smurfs for Brussels Airlines

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It’s official: fans of Brussels Airlines have chosen a Smurfs over Art Nouveau as the 5th iconic Belgium-based icon to be painted on one of the airline’s planes.

The Smurfs were created by Belgian artist Peyo in 1958.

The winning design, created by an Italian student who responded to a contest call, will be added to a Brussels Airlines Airbus A320 which will start flying around Europe and beyond sometime in March 2018.
Brussels Airlines says its takes ‘belgitude’ to heart, with Belgian icons Tintin, Magritte, the Belgian Red Devils and Tomorrowland already painted on planes.  
On board, Brussels Airlines says it also celebrates ‘belgitude” by offerings passengers Belgian chocolates, beers and menus made by Belgian Star Chefs as well as cabin crew uniforms designed by Belgian designers.
Here are some of the Brussels other ‘icon’ planes:

Still time to help Brussels Airlines choose a special livery

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Brussels Airlines has planes with special paint jobs celebrating four Belgian icons (Rackham, Magritte, Trident and Amare), and has a contest underway till the end of August inviting suggestions for a fifth.

Here are just a few of the suggestions that have been submitted so far. There’s still time to send in your own.

Smurfs!

 

The Atomium – a cool leftover from the World’s Fair held in Brussels in 1958.

And of course, a version of the famous Mannekin Pis statue:

Have a better idea? Be sure to send it in.