TAP livery inconsistency?
May 22, 2020, 5:28 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: BHD/DUB/PTY
Programs: BA Silver / EI Silver
Posts: 419
TAP livery inconsistency?
Why is TAP very inconsistent with their livery? It was not that long ago that the 'Air Portugal' was made more prominent and have been slowly been added to the livery... Sort of.
When the A320 Neo was delivered, the only had 'Air Portugal' on the tail, painted winglets and red-green website. Then the had white winglets (they even repainted CS-TVA's winglets for some reason). Now the latest to be delivered has the painted winglets and the 'Air Portugal' on the fuselage too, with the website in black.
Same with the TAP Express Embraer. The E190s have white winglets and black website, while some of the E195s have painted winglets with red-green website, and some have 'Air Portugal' on them with black website.
But then non of the A330 Neo have the 'Air Portugal' on the fuselage. Not even the most recently delivered ones. They all have painted winglets and red-green website.
When the A320 Neo was delivered, the only had 'Air Portugal' on the tail, painted winglets and red-green website. Then the had white winglets (they even repainted CS-TVA's winglets for some reason). Now the latest to be delivered has the painted winglets and the 'Air Portugal' on the fuselage too, with the website in black.
Same with the TAP Express Embraer. The E190s have white winglets and black website, while some of the E195s have painted winglets with red-green website, and some have 'Air Portugal' on them with black website.
But then non of the A330 Neo have the 'Air Portugal' on the fuselage. Not even the most recently delivered ones. They all have painted winglets and red-green website.
May 23, 2020, 10:47 am
#3
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: LIS
Programs: FB LTPE, TP Gold, All Gold
Posts: 1,180
It's related to the timing of the decision to repaint: (i) the former livery lacked "AIR" on the tail and in the fuselage; (ii) then they decided to incorporate it on the tail; and (iii) later on they decided to paint it on the fuselage too. The aircraft due to be repainted before (iii) only have in on the tail, whereas the ones slated to be painted after (iii) have it both on the tail and fuselage. Something similar happened with the winglets. As for the new aircraft delivered (namely A320s neo, A321s neo and neoLR, and A330 neo), most of them only feature (ii) because that was the livery "in force" at the time the painting was contracted with Airbus; modifying that clause would apparently be more expensive than re-painting it in-house when the time would come. Hence poor designing planning (and testing) and financial issues explain the decision to maintain a schizophrenic paint scheme across the fleet.
It will therefore take some time before there will be a uniform livery. But hey, AF changed their livery in 2009 and 11 years later there are still some aircraft with the old livery.
It will therefore take some time before there will be a uniform livery. But hey, AF changed their livery in 2009 and 11 years later there are still some aircraft with the old livery.