Russian airline Pobeda unveils mask-wearing aircraft

Picture by Alexandr Lebedev (provided by Pobeda)

Like pretty much everywhere else, the Covid-19 Pandemic has ground to a halt most Russian airliners, among them what was, before coronavirus hit, the fastest growing Russian airline, low cost carrier Pobeda (a fully-owned subsidiary of Aeroflot that operates an all-Boeing 737-800 fleet).

Pobeda grounded its whole fleet on the 1st of April, but it is now slowly restarting reopening routes, starting with domestic ones.

Picture by Irina Ponomareva (provided by Pobeda)

In any case, the airline has made good use of this stoppage time and has come up with its own way to pay homage to frontline health workers that are doing their best to stop the pandemic and mitigate its effects.

“Thank you to the heroes in white robes” says the special livery that the Russian budget airline just unveiled on one of its Boeing 737s, which is also sporting a big red heart on its fuselage. But this is not all, the aircraft is also “wearing” a giant painted mask right on its nose, perfectly capturing the Zeitgeist of our time and replicating what is going to be, almost certainly, the norm in air travel in the near future.

It is remarkable that this initiative came from the Pobeda’s employees, who have voluntarily contributed the total funds to make this special livery.

This is not the only project we have seen recently by airlines expressing gratitude or support to health professionals, check out for example this Iberia and Vueling ticket giveaway for hospital and care home staff, and most likely it won’t be the last. Will try to keep track of these here as they are roll out.

Picture by Gennadiy Anosov (provided by Pobeda)

Picture by Gennadiy Anosov (provided by Pobeda)