Korean Air Unveils New Livery: Fashionable, Blue, And Boring?

Not too long ago, Korean Air’s takeover of Asiana was finalized, after a course of that spanned over 4 years, because of delayed regulatory approval. We’ve had motive to consider that the airline would introduce a brand new livery for the mixed service, and that has now been leaked.
Korean Air’s new and really blue livery
Whereas an official announcement is anticipated shortly, photos are rising on social media of Korean Air’s very first plane within the new livery. Particularly, this has been painted on the lower than one-year-old Boeing 787-10 with the license plate HL8515.
On February 23, 2025, the airplane flew from Incheon (ICN) to Busan (PUS), after which on March 9, 2025, it returned to Incheon, after getting a contemporary coat of paint. For context, beneath is what Korean Air’s earlier livery seemed like.
In the meantime beneath is what Korean Air’s new livery appears like.
As you’ll be able to see:
- The aspect of the plane says “KOREAN” slightly than “KOREAN AIR,” and in a lot bigger font
- The livery is now simply varied shades of blue, with no crimson getting used anymore
- The straight line separating the blue from the white has been changed by a curved line
- Huge image, I believe it’s protected to imagine that the tail additionally has Korean Air’s new brand, which is simply two shades of blue, slightly than blue, crimson, and white
My tackle Korean Air’s new livery
Let me acknowledge a number of issues, to start out:
- Airplane liveries don’t actually promote tickets, although branding general does matter, or at the least corporations spend some huge cash on branding
- Us aviation geeks positively care about these things much more than the typical traveler
- Usually my impression of liveries evolves over time, each as I turn into accustomed to them, and as I see them in individual
All that being stated, my preliminary impression is that the brand new livery actually feels just like the lowest frequent denominator in livery design. It’s virtually as if Korean Air requested AI to create a contemporary livery that’s an evolution of the outdated Korean Air branding, with out doing something too fascinating.
Sure, the brand new livery appears fairly fashionable, and I do want the brand new shade of blue in comparison with the outdated share of blue. However it additionally appears so unoriginal, and prefer it’s such a replica of the path that so many airways have been headed with their liveries.
I really feel like Korean Air planes used to face out because of their liveries, whereas the brand new one feels forgettable.
Backside line
Following its takeover of Asiana, Korean Air is introducing a brand new livery for the mixed service. This new livery has now been leaked, and it’s fairly an evolution of the outdated one. It appears kind of fashionable and boring, and I can’t say I’m an enormous fan. However who is aware of, possibly it’ll develop on me over time.
What do you make of Korean Air’s new livery?