Earlier this week, Finnair announced that it would be unveiling a new livery this upcoming week. The airline has chosen two Airbus A350s to receive this new livery which will celebrate the airline's 100th anniversary.

The planes will feature iconic characters from the Moomins, a Finnish publication. The airline has chosen to incorporate these characters into the new livery as they symbolize Finnish culture. The airline has maintained a close relationship with the Moomins publication company for years.

Celebrating 100 years

The celebratory liveries come as the airline prepares to turn 100 this November. While the official 100th birthday of the airline is not until late this year, it plans to unveil the liveries early, so the aircraft may be pushed into service and remind thousands of Finnair's history and culture. Finnair has chosen the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company to design and apply the new livery to the A350s. The Hong Kong-based company is widely considered one of the best independent aircraft engineering and maintenance groups in the world.

The chosen A350s registered OH-LWP and OH-LWO have been retrofitted with the new liveries at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG). The first of these two aircraft to depart HKG will be OH-LWP. This plane will take to the skies tomorrow, March 5th. Once airborne, it will fly to Finnair's hub at Helsinki Airport (HEL). This plane will carry its first passengers since acquiring the new livery on Tuesday, March 7th, when it will fly from HEL to Tokyo's Haneda Airport (HND). The second plane will soon take to the skies as well. With the two planes sporting the airline's 100-year livery, it hopes to reach thousands of travelers around the globe, reminding them of Finnair's proud legacy.

The CEO of Finnair, Topi Manner, shared how the airline wants the airplanes to spread awareness of the airline's legacy through 2023. Manner stated,

"Customers will be able to see the centenary in many ways throughout 2023, as we remember our heritage and look forward to the next 100 years."

Cultural livery

Finnair's latest livery is meant to do more than just spread awareness of the airline's legacy; it is also meant to help spread Finnish culture. The livery will feature two characters from the Moomins, Moomintroll, and Snorkmaiden. The characters will be located on the fuselage behind the wings near the airplane's tail. The Moomins are from a book and comic series created by Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson. The series focuses on acceptance and friendship. For decades the publication and its characters have been iconic in Finnish culture, making them the perfect addition to the new livery.

Photo: Finnair

In a statement from the airline, Manner stated how the characters are a great representation of the airline's values. Manner said,

"Finnair's mission is to enrich life by bridging the world. This is also the theme of our centenary. Moomins represent friendship, community and going on adventures together, so they are a great fit for our values."

The Managing Director of Moomin Characters, Roleff Kråkström, shared how the livery is a perfect fit for the characters. Kråkström stated,

"Finnair is one of Moomin's major licensees and we've been working together since the 1990s. We're very happy to see this collaboration extended with the new Moomin livery on Finnair aircraft.

"Moomin is a character-brand grounded in the universal and timeless values of tolerance, acceptance and friendship upon which Nordic societies are built. These are the values that come to life in the Moomin embrace depicted in the Finnair 100 livery."

What do you think of this new livery? Let us know in the comment section.