Nostalgia in the air: Fly2 aircraft liveries in times gone by

We take a look at the evolution of the Fly2 brand and aircraft livery since its launch in April 2006.

Today, Fly2 is the leisure franchise of Fly UK, simulating year-round flights to popular seasonal holiday destinations in Europe and beyond from a variety of UK airports. The all Boeing fleet includes 737-800, 757-200 and 787-9 aircraft sporting a smart, striking Red/Grey/White livery.

Low-Cost Revolution

The airline was started back in the early noughties, a time when low-cost carriers were taking over the skies in the real world, shaking up the aviation industry and the way we travel. In the UK alone, this included the likes of easyJet, GoFly, Buzz, Ryanair, Thomsonfly, MyTravelLite, bmibaby, FlyGlobespan, Zoom and Jet2. Keen to bring the low-cost revolution to the virtual skies, Fly UK launched Fly2 as its low-cost subsidiary on the 29th April 2006, with Boeing 737-700 aircraft based at Liverpool John Lennon airport. Virtual Class C pilots and above could choose from 12 European destinations and were invited to join the low-cost revolution at the Fly2 launch event - a group flight from Liverpool to Barcelona, held online on the IVAO network with block to block ATC coverage!

Popular First Franchise

Fly UK's first franchise was a popular hit with members. One of the main reasons was because it had its own unique look and distinct aircraft livery, offering a change from the usual Fly UK mainstream operations. It allowed members to 'fly with another virtual airline' without having to hold multiple memberships.

Due to its popularity, more bases and routes were soon added as you can see in one of the early promotional images below.

Evolution of the Brand and Livery

Over the last 14 years, various Marketing and Fleet Repaint staff (Lee, Steve and Matt) have had the opportunity to exercise their creative flair, producing a number of stunning aircraft liveries for Fly2. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please ensure your seat is upright, tray table stowed and seatbelt fastened as we take off on a trip down memory lane and look at the evolution of the Fly2 brand and livery..."

The Original Fly2 Livery (April 2006)

The first livery featured large billboard titles and a bold, black and turquoise sweeping curve. Although we may not have realised at the time, looking back, it seems the re-painter might have been inspired by the early Maersk Air design.

FlyUno Rebrand (December 2006)

All change in late 2006. The Fly2 name disappeared altogether when Fly UK agreed to adopt the brand of rival virtual airline 'FlyUno' for its low-cost operation. This also saw the introduction of Airbus aircraft into the low-cost fleet with A319's and A320's.

Fly2 - Silver and Red (November 2008)

By 2008, FlyUno and the Airbus' had come and gone - it was back to Fly2, this time with silver and red. It could be said that this livery was inspired by another real-world low-cost carrier which had, and continues to have a silver and red livery today. We'll let you decide for yourself on this one...

Leased Boeing 737-500 (2008)

To support expansion and give members more choice, a new aircraft type was added on a temporary basis. This was the perfect opportunity to simulate an aircraft lease deal in 2008.  

Concept Livery (2008)

By late 2008, the management team was contemplating yet another rebrand to freshen up its high-flying low-cost franchise. Below is a concept design put forward for consideration by current CEO Matt who was the resident re-painter at the time. Unfortunately, this livery was never officially used.

Logojets (2008 & 2009)

Instead of a re-brand, how about some logo jets? 2008 and 2009 saw various aircraft completely taken over with promotional branding.

One of the first was a special Disneyland Paris themed logo jet.

Perhaps the most random, yet still reasonably popular, was the Irish Magic, Celtic Woman logo jet. 

Fly2 Dublin Logojet (December 2008)

In December 2008, Fly2 opened a base at Dublin airport in Ireland. To celebrate the launch of the base, the colours on some of the aircraft were switched from red to green with 'Fly2 Dublin'. 

FlyKandi Logojet (May 2009)

This theme promoted destinations such as Ibiza, Majorca and Tenerife - popular night-life destinations and home to club nights of the dance record label HedKandi. In the real world, Monarch Airlines teamed up with the same brand for a campaign one summer which saw an A321 painted with HedKandi branding. 

Fly2 Christmas Logojet (December 2009) 

It's Christmas! Presents and a Santa logo were added to the aircraft design to celebrate the festive season.

A New Era - Fly2 Refreshed (February 2013)

To celebrate its 7th birthday, Fly2 got a new-look in 2013. The logo remained similar, but the silver was dropped and the number 2 was repeated across the tail, in a similar fashion to the original livery from 2006.

Fly2 as you know it today (July 2017 to Present Day)

Present-day, 14 years on, this is the Fly2 you know and love. Nowadays there is less focus on the low-cost model, the airline has transitioned into a leisure airline flying from across the UK to seasonal holiday hot spots in Europe and beyond!

So there we have it... all of the Fly2 re-brands, re-refreshes and logo jets in one place. We hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane.

Only one question remains... 'Where will you Fly2?' Find out more at flyuk.aero/fly2.