• 

  Virgin Atlantic

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  VS/VIR

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  London Heathrow Airport

  Year Founded:

  1984

  CEO:

  Shai Weiss

  Country:

  United Kingdom

For many of us, the sight of an aircraft is enough to turn heads. This is particularly the case for widebodies like the Boeing 747, whose size catches the eyes of avgeeks and the general public. As such, it is an ideal candidate for use as a mobile advertising board. As it happens, this is exactly what Virgin Atlantic did with a 747.

Harry Potter

According to data from ch-aviation.com, G-VLIP spent its entire career with Virgin Atlantic. This 455-seat Boeing 747-400 joined the airline in May 2001 and flew high-density leisure flights across the North Atlantic Ocean for nearly 19 years. During this time, Virgin Atlantic used the side of the aircraft's sizeable fuselage to advertise not one but two different blockbuster movie franchises.

Promotional liveries can add an interesting splash of color to a normal paint scheme, and the first time G-VLIP had one was in May 2010. Data from ATDB.aero shows that the Harry Potter livery that it was painted in at this time stayed on the aircraft until February 2011. But why did the jumbo sport such a paint scheme?

As you can see in the photo below, the special livery promoted 'The Wizarding World of Harry Potter' in Orlando, which remains a key Virgin Atlantic destination today.

As it happens, the timing of this livery also coincided with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1. This was the seventh of the franchise's eight films, and it hit the big screen in November 2010, grossing $977.1 million.

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From one popular film series to another, G-VLIP then went on to spend its final months at Virgin Atlantic in a Star Wars-themed livery. It first received this special paint scheme in September 2019, and retained it until Virgin Atlantic withdrew the aircraft in March 2020. This occurred prematurely, due to the onset of coronavirus.

Virgin Atlantic also renamed the aircraft, which was previously known as 'Hot Lips,' to 'The Falcon.' This was in homage to the Millenium Falcon spaceship that features in several Star Wars films, and indeed the special livery as well. Whether G-VLIP could traverse hyperspace in the same way the the Falcon does is another matter entirely, but the ship looked right at home on the 747's fuselage.

The reason for this temporary promotional paint job, which you can see in the photo above, corresponded once again to the opening of a new attraction in Orlando. As Simple Flying reported at the time, the livery commemorated the opening of the 'Galaxy's Edge' zone of Walt Disney World in Florida. LATAM also repainted a 777 for this purpose, which remains active today as PT-MUA.

Love aviation history? Discover more of our stories here.

Now stored in Arizona

It has now been around three years since Virgin Atlantic withdrew its Star Wars-liveried 747, and the 'Queen of the skies' now no longer plays a role in the carrier's operations.

After storage periods in Spain and the UK, G-VLIP ended up further afield. Since December 2020, the jumbo has been in storage in Marana, Arizona.

Data from FlightRadar24.com shows that it first flew from London Heathrow to Las Vegas on December 10th before continuing to an indefinite stay in the desert the following day. During its entire career, the majestic aircraft accrued an impressive 92,658 hours of flight, with these coming from 11,830 flight cycles.

Other advertising examples

As it happens, Virgin Atlantic is far from the only airline to have promoted the concept of cinematic enjoyment by using its aircraft as flying billboards. Indeed, as seen in the photograph below, 2021 saw US-based ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant do so for Ron's Gone Wrong. It did so using N220NV, a 2000-built A320.

Meanwhile, December 2021 saw Avianca adorn another Airbus A320 with a special livery to promote the film Encanto, which was based in the flag carrier of Colombia's country. The jet in question bears the registration N939AV, and it has served the airline since its delivery in 2011.

After all, movies have long played a significant role in the pop culture of countries. They are also part of the onboard experience via the inflight entertainment. Notably, just this week, Delta Air Lines announced the launch of a documentary movie about how the carrier overcame the pandemic.

Regarding Virgin, it's a clever move to promote these movie franchises on its transoceanic routes. It's a great way to get passengers excited about visiting theme parks based on these brands on both sides of the Atlantic.

Did you ever see G-VLIP with either of its promotional liveries applied? Perhaps you even flew on it? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

Source: ch-aviation.com; ATDB.aero; FlightRadar24.com