Art can be many different things for different people. What someone might deem worth paying millions for may have another shrugging their shoulders. That is also kind of the beauty of it. Meanwhile, if you appreciate art and also happen to be an aviation enthusiast (which we tend to assume most of our readers are), few things beat Lufthansa's recent proposition - an exclusive artist collaboration with art created on airplane skin.The German national airline has partnered with British-born Sacha Jafri, one of the most highly acclaimed and commercially successful artists in the world. Earlier this year, Jafri, now based in Dubai, held an exhibition on the Burj Khalifa helipad. It was curated by German Marcus Schäfer and named The Art Maze. With the theme of "Reconnecting Humanity," the exhibition featured paintings of UNESCO World Heritage sites around the world.Twelve original paintings from the exhibition have now made their way onto the outer skin of a decommissioned Lufthansa Airbus A320 in collaboration with Lufthansa WorldShop. Jafri, who holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest painting on canvas, "The Journey of Humanity," stated,

“These parts, which have previously travelled around the world, are now being given a new life as a work of art. (...) In a world where the metaverse is becoming more of a reality, and where online and physical living is fully integrated, this project is about reconnecting Humanity to the beauty that surrounds us, within our natural world, by re-establishing links with our heritage and cultural history.”

Thirty years of service turned into art

If one looks very closely at the video above, one can make out the name of the A320 being dismantled. It is "Kaufbeuren," or D-AIPR, an A320-200 that joined the Lufthansa fleet in August 1990. It was removed from service in March 2020 and stored in Teruel in Spain after being decommissioned after nearly 30 years of service.

The twelve art pieces have now been attached to the skin removed from the aircraft. Jafri has also added a new artistic layer to each canvas, personalizing each one with oil and acrylic paints and ultimately transforming each piece into a unique artwork of its own. Lufthansa says that each piece has been autographed by the artist and comes with a certificate of authenticity.

Cash, miles, or a combination

So what is the price for owning your own unique piece of art on the skin of an Airbus A320 previously exhibited at the Burj Khalifa? The answer is €75,000 ($72,882). Or, 20,625,000 miles. How many flights would one have needed to take to scrape together that many? Although, in all fairness, Lufthansa offers you to pay solely in euros, redeem miles or use a combination of euros and miles.

There are also art print versions available - 120, to be precise. These will set you back €6,000 ($5,830), or 1,650,000 miles. So somewhat more affordable, but by no means accessible to the larger part of the population, by no stretch of the imagination. And you do miss out on having a piece of an Airbus aircraft in your home.