A look at Virgin Atlantic's current aircraft livery

A recurring feature on airline liveries has turned to Virgin Atlantic this time, looking at the design that has defined the British carrier's aircraft since it began flying in 1984.

The piece describes red as the livery's dominant color, appearing on the tail, engine nacelles and other details against a largely white fuselage. Large "Virgin Atlantic" titles run along the side of the aircraft. The tail carries the airline's handwritten-style Virgin logo set against a metallic red background, which the piece calls the most recognizable feature when the aircraft is seen from afar.

According to the piece, the current livery's basic form dates to 2010, when it replaced an earlier scheme built around a metallic silver fuselage. That redesign brought back a predominantly white aircraft body, gave the Virgin Atlantic wordmark a more prominent placement, and deepened the metallic tone used in the red elements.

The feature also touches on the broader difficulty of airline livery design in general. Painters have to work around critical flight components and account for the added weight of paint. The piece cites a figure suggesting that repainting a typical airliner can cost upwards of $200,000, a cost that has helped support a dedicated aircraft repainting industry.

No new changes to Virgin Atlantic's livery are mentioned in connection with this piece. It appears to be part of an ongoing weekly series covering liveries from across the industry, past and present.