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By David Parker Brown, on January 8th, 2013 at 8:45 am
 Germanwings new livery on an Airbus A319 (D-AGWT). Photo from Germanwings. Behold Germanwing’s new livery which was recently painted on an Airbus A319 (D-AGWT). The change is more than just a new design; they are altering the way that they do business as well.
Germanwings was founded in 1997 as a German based low-cost airline and in January 2009, they became a subsidiary of Lufthansa Airlines. Germanwings currently operates a fleet of almost 40 Airbus A319 aircraft, but it will soon grow.
Lufthansa will start moving aircraft to the “new” airline and Germanwings fleet will grow to about 90. Germanwings is set to take over all of Lufthansa’s domestic and European, non-hub flights.
 Germanwings previous livery on an Airbus A319. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren. Christoph Franz, Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG stated: “With the ‘new Germanwings’ we are going on the offensive in respect of point-to-point connections. We have developed a convincing array of products and have many years of experience in the low-cost and premium segments. We will combine elements of both in the ‘new Germanwings’ and set new standards in our home market of Europe. This will enable us to operate profitably away from our large hubs again while also exciting our passengers with a modern offering.”
 Germanwings new pricing structure is a bit easier to follow than other low cost airlines. Image from Germanwings. On July 1, 2013, the official “new Germanwings” will start operations with only economy seating, but with three types of service (see the chart above).
Lufthansa’s website states, “True to the motto “Reasonably priced but not cheap”, the airline’s employees will focus all the more on meeting customer’s wishes to the fullest in the future. Passengers will be able to choose from three basic Economy Class modules for this – Best, Smart and Basic.”
The more you pay; the better service you get. Not too difficult.
 What do you think of Germanwings new livery? Photo from Germanwings. The new livery is a pretty radical departure from the previous one. It moves to a more conservative look, that mirrors Lufthansa.
As far as European-white liveries, I think this one does quite well. The swooping, colorful “W” on the tail goes well with the titles on the side. I only wish that color would have been added to the winglets, but maybe that would have been a bit too much. Lufthansa has probably one of the most simple, yet regal liveries and probably wanted Germanwings to have a bit more of a “fun” or “cost effective” look, while steering clear of the Spirit Airlines or Wizz Air look.
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This story written by…David Parker Brown, Editor & Founder.
David started AirlineReporter.com in the summer of 2008, but has had a passion for aviation since he was a kid. Born and raised in the Seattle area (where he is currently based) has surely had an influence and he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world.
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By David Parker Brown, on October 31st, 2012 at 5:45 pm
 Batavia Air Airbus A320 in the airline’s newest livery. Image by Christian Volpati / Wikipedia. Batavia Air is based in Jakarta, Indonesia and was founded in 2002. The airline mostly operates flights with-in Indonesia, but also to China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Timor-Leste.
The airline is in the process of upgrading their fleet. Right now they have a mixture of over 30 aircraft including the Airbus A320, A321, A330, Boeing 737-300, 737-400 and a 737-500.
Their newest livery is a nice combination with a front white fuselage, but colored tail. Their previously livery looks familiar, with a bit more white, but with the aircraft type clearly labeled on the side. However, nothing is quite as classic as their original livery with a double cheatline.
By David Parker Brown, on October 25th, 2012 at 11:30 am
 Allegiant’s first Airbus A319 (HB-JZK / N301NV) after being painted to their livery. Image from Allegiant. Earlier this year, Allegiant Air announced that they would be adding 19 Airbus A319s into their fleet. The one seen in this story was recently painted in United Kingdom Southend (SEN) and previously wore EasyJet colors. It currently shows registration number HB-JZK, but when put into service, this aircraft will most likely be wearing N301NV.
Their first A319 is scheduled to be delivered Q1 2013 and in operations Q2 2013. After it is delivered, the aircraft will be used for crew training.
BONUS: READ MORE ABOUT ALLEGIANT’S AIRBUS A319
Allegiant is configuring their A319′s in a high-density, 156 economy seat layout. The double exit doors over the wing shows that this aircraft is able to handle the 156 configuration (most A319′s with a single exit hold 134 seats).
One thing you might notice in all the photos is it doesn’t include the nose cone. I expect that is because the aircraft does not currently have a nose cone as seen on Skyliner-aviation.de. I am quite confident that it will have one soon.
I have to say that I love Allegiant’s livery. I think it looks best on the Boeing 757 and it is a bit squashed on the A319, but still looks slick.
Thanks Ken for the heads up!
ADDITIONAL ALLEGIANT A319 PHOTOS:
By David Parker Brown, on September 23rd, 2012 at 9:30 pm
 Tame Airlines Airbus A319. Image Sylvain2803 / Wikipedia / CC. Tame Airlines (or TAME or tame) is the flag carrier of Ecuador and was founded in 1962. The airline mostly serves Ecuador, but also offers flights to Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and seasonally to Cuba.
Tame’s previously livery was unique and I have to admit better — almost. The biggest mistake with the old livery was keeping the nose cap white. Paint it to match the rest of the aircraft and you have yourself a livery that people will remember. Not to say that the new, almost all white, livery is bad, just not original, since many designs today contain too much white.
The airline has put in quite a bit of effort updating their fleet (they ran 727′s as recently as 2009) and they currently operate a fleet of 15 aircraft including the Airbus A319, A320, ATR 42-500, Embraer E170 and E190.
By David Parker Brown, on July 30th, 2012 at 8:45 am
 What Allegiant’s Airbus A319s will look like. Image from Allegiant. Today, Allegiant Air has announced that they plan to add 19 Airbus A319s into their fleet.
Allegiant will lease nine A319′s from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) and also lease 10 A319s from Cebu Pacific Air. The first two A319s are expected to start service during the second quarter of 2013.
The aircraft, which will be configured with 156 economy class seats, will not be new and aged seven to ten years old at the time of delivery.
Can Allegiant’s success of a one model fleet, still exist with a fleet of three different aircraft types? Traditionally, Allegiant only flew MD-80 aircraft and more recently added the 757-200. Now, with a third aircraft type, that greatly increases training and maintenance costs. In a presentation given today, Allegiant stated that, “Pilot transition/training -less efficient, but manageable,” and that “Economics dictate this added complexity is worthwhile.”
“The A319 is a new aircraft type for Allegiant, but we otherwise see this as a continuation of our existing business model,” said Andrew C. Levy, Allegiant President. “A319 asset values have significantly declined and now mirror the environment we saw when we first began buying MD-80s.”
Allegiant is hoping to place the A319s on routes that are just marginally profitable for the MD-80 aircraft. The A319 is 25% cheaper per block hour with fuel and 40% lower on maintenance than the MD-80 aircraft. Also, the range of the A319 is greater with a 3,600 nm vs just 1400 nm, allowing Allegiant to look at longer route opportunities. At this time, the airline is not planning on increasing fleet utilization.
The airline is planning to retire two MD-80s, which have heavy maintenance checks coming up, but do not have future retirement plans at this time. By 2015, Allegiant is planning to be operating 56 MD-80s (58 now), six Boeing 757s (four now) and 19 Airbus A319s (0 now).
Buying the A319 is not a fleeting changing plan, but a fleet growth plan. There is no question that Allegiant got a great deal on the A319, since multiple airlines are dumping that smaller model for larger A320 and A321 aircraft. Soon, there will be more A320CEOs in the market, as airlines upgrade to the A320NEO family.
I would not be surprised to see additional A320 family of aircraft join Allegiant’s fleet before 2015. There will be a lot of change with the airline in the next coming years that will test their ability to succeed. I have a feeling that with the demand for rock bottom airfares increasing, they might be able to pull this off.
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