Cargolux Airlines yesterday reported that it has celebrated its 45th anniversary with a specially-designed aircraft livery applied to its 13th 747-8 freighter.
The livery was created by Belgian cartoonish Philippe Cruyt, who has previously illustrated a range of educational books on air freight and environmental topics, advertising and safety campaigns, calendars and posters for the airline.
Cruyt's design was applied to the LX-VCM aircraft, named 'City of Redange-sur-Attert', which was handed over at Boeing's Seattle plant on Monday and arrived in Luxembourg yesterday, 29 September 2015, with a full load of cargo. Consisting of 460 individual parts, the new artistic composition represents the largest decal that Boeing has ever applied to an aircraft.
"I'm proud to see this aircraft with a very special paint scheme join our fleet," commented Dirk Reich, Cargolux President & CEO. "The 747-8 freighter perfectly suits our worldwide network and its nose-loading and cargo-carrying abilities help us to maintain our leading position in the airfreight industry. Phillippe Cruyt's exceptional livery is a fitting addition to our 13th 747-8F and underlines not only the expertise and experience that Cargolux has gained in handling a wide variety of normal and special freight, but also celebrated the long and colourful history of our company. This aircraft is an ambassador for the passion and the spirit of Cargolux".
Cargolux was founded on 4 March 1970 by Luxair, Loftleiðir and Salén as an all-cargo and sub-charter flight operator, and has since grown to become Europe's largest all-cargo airline. In 2014, the airline transported nearly 830,000 tonnes of cargo across its fleet of 25,747 freighters.
The last 45 years have comprised various milestones for the Cargolux airline, including its ranking in the top 15 largest worldwide cargo carriers in 1988; the development of a new, advanced version of the 747 freighter with Boeing in 2005; and a commercial cooperation agreement with Henan Civil Aviation Investment Co. (HNCA) in 2014, allowing the airline to extend a new hub in Zhengzhou, China.
Photo by Cargolux
