With special messages like ‘Dubai Expo’ and ‘Be Part of the Magic’, the words run across both sides of the A380 fuselage

As the Expo 2020 Dubai begins in less than two days, Dubai’s flagship airline Emirates has unveiled a flying invitation card for the Expo 2020 with its latest nose-to-tail Expo 2020 Dubai livery on its A380 aircraft.

Premier partner and official airline of Expo 2020 Dubai, Emirates has forgone its traditional white and gold paint scheme and has painted the aircraft in bright blue that features graphics in vivid green, orange, pink, purple and red.

With special messages like ‘Dubai Expo’ and ‘Be Part of the Magic’, the words run across both sides of the A380 fuselage and all the way up to the tail and fin interlaced with the distinct ring-shaped Expo 2020 Dubai logo. The engine cowls also carry the Expo 2020 Dubai messages and dates of the event.

The iconic red belly branding, which can only be seen when the aircraft is flying overhead, has been replaced by the Opportunity Pavilion-themed orange Dubai Expo branding.

The distinctive blue Expo aircraft will join the 40 other special liveries dedicated to Expo 2020 Dubai, which have collectively flown to over 130 destinations across the Emirates network since 2018.

There is also an image of Nicole Smith-Ludvik on both sides of the aircraft, holding a message board that says: ‘See you there’ and ‘Dubai Expo Oct-Mar 2022’. Last month, a video of Smith-Ludvik atop the Burj Khalifa, celebrating the UAE’s addition to the UK’s Amber List last month went viral too.

The new A380 livery was designed, painted, produced, and installed in-house by the teams at Emirates. The livery was not just a decal, but a complete paint project, and, according to the airline, by far the largest such project.

The aircraft chose for the livery –the A6EEU’s whose paint was completely stripped, after which eleven colours were applied on the aircraft. A 'wild spray method’, electrostatic spray guns and conventional cup guns were used to put on the different colours, using over 2,500 sqm of tracing and masking material.

The process of painting the livery design and applying the decals took 16 days and 4,379 man-hours to complete.