A Look at Olympic Liveries Over the Years

By Sarah Livingston 4 Min Read
© Delta

Whether they’re transporting athletes to the Olympic Games or promoting the Games across the world, airlines have been donning unique Olympic liveries for years.

As the 2022 Olympic Games begin to come to a close in Beijing, and with the Paralympic Games just around the corner, we’ve rounded up some spirited Olympic liveries.

Delta: Beijing 2022 Olympics

@ Delta

Delta’s custom Olympic Airbus A330-900 has been flying primarily trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific routes. The aircraft also celebrates a brand new eight-year partnership between Delta and Team USA. The partnership will run through the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Air Canada: Tokyo 2020 Olympics

© Air Canada

For the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Air Canada encouraged Canadians to rise higher. The airline’s special Fly the Flag livery also featured the French translation Haut le Drapeau on the other side of the aircraft.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner began flying athletes and staff to the games on July 1, 2021.

ANA: Tokyo 2020 Olympics

© JAL

When the Olympic flame needed to be transported from Greece to Japan for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Japan Airlines answered the call with a fittingly designed aircraft. Partnered with ANA as one of two airlines sponsoring the games, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner featured a torchbearer and gold and red designs.

British Airways: Rio 2016 Olympics

© Stuart Bailey / British Airways

For the Rio 2016 Olympics, British Airways selected a name for the aircraft that would bring Team Great Britain home after the games. The winner was victoRIOus, and the aircraft certainly brought Team GB home happy and glorious.

Hoping to bring home the gold, British Airways also opted for a golden nose cone.

ANA: Tokyo 2020 Olympics

© Masahiro Takagi / Wikimedia

All Nippon Airways’ Tokyo 2020 livery was selected through a contest, themed: Connect the world, connect the future. Dubbed the Hello 2020 Jet, the livery was designed by Mr. Asahi Matsumoto and the aircraft began flying with the new design in January 2018.

The livery’s design shows different Olympic disciplines, as well as Japan’s natural landscape and monuments.

airBaltic: Sochi 2014 Olympics

© airBaltic

For the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, airBaltic unveiled this special livery as the official carrier of Latvia. The Boeing 737 featured three shades of green and a shade of blue, representing Baltic mountains.

The aircraft honoured the Latvian Olympic team, as the first aircraft to charter the team together to the games.

Korean Air: Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics

© Korean Air

Korean Air was one of the official sponsors of the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Games, so the airline sought to promote the games with an exclusive livery.

Korean Air’s specially designed livery on this Airbus A330-200 featured the Olympic mascots and messaging. Several aircraft sported this livery until March 18, 2018.

What is your favourite Olympic livery? Let us know in the comments below!

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Assistant Editor (Americas) - Sarah is a digital marketer and writer based in Canada with a passion for aviation and travel. In addition to her background in broadcasting and content creation, she also has experience in the aviation industry working in the Marketing & Communications Department for a popular Canadian LCC and has an interest in aviation photography. She is one of Travel Radar's Americas region Assistant Editors
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