Eurowhite

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Eurowhite is a term used in the aviation industry to describe airline aircraft paint schemes which are predominantly white, usually adorned only with the airline's name along the forward fuselage, and its logo on the vertical tail. Eurowhite became a common trend in airline paint schemes during the 1980s, breaking with airlines' long tradition of colorful and intricate liveries which were sometimes unique to each airplane, as was the case with American airline Braniff. As implied by its name, it is considered to have originated in Europe, where airlines sold or leased aircraft very often. It was often too expensive to completely re-paint an airliner for just a few months or years of anticipated duty with an airline, resulting in many aircraft operating in complete or almost completely white paint schemes bearing only the titles of the current operator. Use of the term is largely subjective, as each person has different criteria as to how much presence of the color white on the aircraft is required for a scheme to deserve the 'eurowhite' description.

[edit] Airlines using Eurowhite

Schemes considered to be classical examples of eurowhite include Air France, Scandinavian Airlines, Swiss, [Turkish Airlines]], and Air Malta. KLM sported a eurowhite scheme at the time they received their first 747s, but soon changed to their familiar sky-blue colours. Schemes commonly referred to as eurowhite are sometimes not completely white at all, as is the case with Lufthansa of Germany (blue tails and gray bellies) and British Airways (flaglike pattern on the tail and a dark blue belly). Iberia of Spain and Alitalia of Italy sport predominantly white schemes which feature large solidly-coloured cheatlines, but are usually considered to be eurowhite.

[edit] Recent Trend

There has recently been a worldwide trend towards eurowhite schemes, which may be a sign of airlines' attempts to reduce their costs even more in face of rising fuel prices. Eurowhite tends to be frowned upon by aviation fans and spotters, a sign of changing times when airlines are concerned ever less with their images, continuing the eradication of flight's 20th-century glamour and mystique. Airlines which have recently switched to eurowhite schemes include AeroMexico (which formerly sported a bare-metal livery), TAP Portugal, US Airways and United Airlines (although the 'eurowhiteness' of the latter two schemes is debatable).