Emirates unveils aircraft with new Expo 2020 Dubai livery

Dubai airline Emirates has unveiled its first aircraft with a new livery dedicated to Expo 2020 Dubai.

The decal was installed on A6-EPK, a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, at the Emirates Engineering hangar in Dubai.

The design is based on the Expo 2020 logo – which is inspired by an ancient gold ring excavated in Dubai.

Emirates will be installing three different decal designs to reflect the different themes of Expo 2020 including opportunity, mobility and sustainability.

The theme of the first decal installed was ‘mobility’ and it is one of the largest decals to be applied on an Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft.

It is also the first time that the surface area on top of the aircraft has been covered by a decal, a statement said. The decal covers over 40 per cent of the aircraft’s fuselage surface area.

The design spans over 37.8 metres in length and 12 metres in width and was created, printed and installed by Emirates’ in-house graphic shop team. It took a team of six staff over 84 hours to complete the installation.

In total, Emirates said 40 aircraft from its fleet – including Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s – will have Expo 2020 decals starting in 2017 through to the end of Expo 2020 Dubai.

All the aircraft in Emirates’ fleet will also carry a new Expo 2020 nose decal.

Emirates has previously installed the ‘United for Wildlife’ livery and other customised decals marking its football partnerships.

The airline is the official airline partner of the six-month long expo in Dubai.

Reem Al Hashimy, director general of the Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau said: “We are planning to host the first World Expo where the majority of our visitors will be travelling internationally.

“By carrying our logo across the world on its aircraft, Emirates is playing an important role in helping us promote that goal.”

Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region.

More than 200 international participants including countries, companies, NGOs and educational institutions are set to take part, while about 70 per cent of the predicted 25 million visits are slated to come from outside the UAE.