Korean Air unveils its new aircraft livery
March 13, 2025
The new livery was revealed in front of 1,000 guests, including employees, industry leaders and international and domestic media in a ceremony that was compered by Korean Air Chairman and CEO Walter Cho. The new livery was showcased on a Boeing 787-10 (HL8515, MSN 66878). It has already also been applied to an Airbus A330.
Korean Air was established in 1969, when the formerly state-owned Korean Air Lines was taken over by the Hanjin Kal conglomerate. Korean Air adopted its ‘old’ livery in 1984, using a distinctive sky blue upper fuselage and white undersides, divided by a dark silver grey cheatline, and with a stylised blue, white and red taeguk on the tail. The taeguk is a traditional Korean symbol denoting harmony between opposing forces which is also used on the Republic of Korea’s flag. The name ‘Korean Air’ was applied in a rich dark blue, with the ‘o’ in Korean replaced by another red, white and blue taeguk.
The new Korean Air livery is the first major rebranding in 41 years, and uses a metallic blue for the topsides, with no cheatline. The airline’s name is rendered simply as ‘KOREAN’ in a darker blue, using a simplified sans serif font. The taegu is retained on the fin only, and is simplified and applied in dark blue outline form only.
“The updated logo aligns with modern and global minimalist branding trends while preserving the airline’s distinct identity,” Korean Air said.
The new livery will be rolled out fleet wide, though Korean Air is still deciding whether to repaint the Airbus A380s, A220s and Boeing 747-8s, that it plans to phase out, but which were retained due to delivery delays to some new aircraft. All new deliveries will have the new colour scheme, and Korean Air intends to repaint as many aircraft from its current fleet as it can before January 2027.
The livery will eventually applied to Asiana aircraft after the two airlines integrate on 1 January 2027, dramatically increasing the airline’s size and international footprint. Asiana, which was acquired in a $1.3 billion acquisition in December 2024, will be run as a subsidiary of Korean Air until then.
Although the rebranding was reportedly prompted by Korean’s acquisition of Asiana, the new scheme does not include any ‘nods’ to the Asiana brand, with no common design elements.
Korean Air worked with Lippincott (which also designed new liveries for Southwest, Aer Lingus, and Hawaiian) for its new livery. The new colour scheme forms part of a much wider update of the airline’s branding and corporate identity, which is changing onboard food menus, crew uniforms and passenger lounges.
The Boeing 787-10 used for the unveil (delivered to Korean Air in 2024) returned to operations on 12 March, operating its first flight between Seoul Incheon and Tokyo Narita.
