Metamorphosis: Airliners that look like Animals

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Have you noticed that quite a few airlines have been painting their aircraft as if they were wild animals?

I am not talking here about just painting some cute animal on the tail - as Frontier Airlines does with much success - but of using the whole length and curves of the fuselage to make the entire plane look like a wild beast.

Let's see some examples:

1. Rossyia Airlines (Russia)

"Tigrolyot"

"Tigrolyot"

This subsidiary of national carrier Aeroflot has been actively engaged in campaigns to help save both the Amur Tiger and the Amur Leopard, two endangered feline species that live in Russia's Far East.

"Leopardlyot"

"Leopardlyot"

So it has decorated the nose of a Boeing 747 and a Boeing 777 called respectively "Tigrelyot" and "Leopardlyot" (a Russian game of words that could translate as "Tiger-flight" and "Leopard-flight")

2. Embraer E-195 (Brazil)

Picture: Embraer

Picture: Embraer

This livery is not sported by an airline, but by Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, that delighted visitors at the 2017 Paris Air Show with this amazing eagle-themed E-195, called the "Profit Hunter". There is also video showing the painting process.

3. Nordstar (Russia)

Picture: Anna Zvereva

Picture: Anna Zvereva

And back to Russia, to get another animal from the frozen North; a husky dog, flying with Nordstar, a Russian airline that flies to quite a few destinations in the Arctic regions of Russia.

Well, in reality this livery celebrate the Universiade, a sort of Olympic Games for students, that took place in Kranoyarsk, Siberia. The husky was just the mascot, but it has ended up being the most noticeable feature of this design.

4. Alaska Airlines (US)

Picture: Alaska Airlines

Picture: Alaska Airlines

This is a classic of animal liveries, almost like a symbol of the state of Alaska and of Alaska Airlines. The Salmon Thirty Salmon livery.

5. Azores Airways (Portugal)

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We do not leave the sea because a whale has become the emblem of the rebranded Azores Airways, formerly known as SATA. Whale-watching is, of course, one of the top things to do in this Portuguese archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic...and it also fits really well to the side of an A330 fuselage!

6. Southwest (US)

Special liveries are not a novelty at Southwest, that has its own series about US states. Through a partnership with SeaWorld it also came up with this amazing whale-livery

7. Japan Transocean Air (Okinawa, Japan)

Yet another beautiful whale livery has surfaced in the island of Okinawa, where the local subsidiary of Japan Airlines based used it as a theme for one of its Boeing 737-400s. And it comes in two colours, blue and pink!

But the biggest animal look-alike in the aviation World does not even need a livery...and it is also a whale! Check out the Airbus Beluga!