Originally Posted by WHBM
Some operators, especially charter/cargo ones, just do not bother to put markings on at all in the intervening time. However there will always be a registration, at the back of the aircraft.
To bring this back on-topic for this forum, I had an interesting experience when I was sitting in the lounge in Surabaya, Indonesia last year. A BA 737 (or similar sized plane) landed on the runway in full BA paintjob except that the "British Airways" had been painted out. I assume it was a budget Indonesian airline that was getting some revenue from it to be able to afford the paint. It definitely caused me to do a double-take!