March 16: The Aircraft Interiors International team loves a special edition aircraft livery, with past favorites including WestJet’s Sorcerer Mickey livery. Today however, has given us a new favorite: Rackham, a very special Brussels Airlines A320 with a Tintin theme.
In case you haven’t heard of Tintin, he is the eponymous star of the The Adventures of Tintin comic series created by Belgian cartoonist Hergé (the pen name of Georges Remi). The series ran from 1929-1976, with Tintin, a young Belgian reporter, ably assisted by his faithful fox terrier Snowy, solving mysteries, getting into scrapes, and thwarting the plans of baddies, all with a touch of humor and satire.
One of the best-loved Tintin stories is Red Rackham’s Treasure. If you haven’t read it already, we won’t spoil the story for you, but we do have to reveal that an unlikely star of the story is a one-man (and dog) submarine cunningly created in the form of a shark (see left).
That shark-sub was the inspiration for #SNRackham. Brussels Airlines partnered with artist André Eisele and painting company Eirtech Aviation to create the livery, which involved the loving application of 360 liters of paint. Even better, the airline has also carried on the Tintin theme inside the aircraft with artwork on the bulkheads, and copies of Red Rackham’s Treasure in the literature racks so passengers can be warned what adventures may lie ahead in their journey.
The Rackham livery will be flying until 2019, and could be the most sought-after sighting for aircraft enthusiasts.
You can see interviews of the Rackham team and watch the A320 getting the Tintin treatment HERE
And a Rackham gallery HERE
