Qatar Airways(QR) is one of the three big airlines from the Middle East and is referred to as one of the ME3. This airline has a base at Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH), and it operates to 140 destinations across six continents. The carrier has also used some special liveries during its operations. Let’s look at five of them.

1 Celebrating the World Cup in Style

Other carriers, such as GOL and Aerolíneas Argentinas, also had their own World Cup liveries

2022 was quite a year for Qatar. The nation hosted the greatest footballing event of them all – the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It eventually saw Lionel Messi and Argentina win the trophy, with top officials of Qatar at the closing celebration. Qatar was also involved with the game of football before the World Cup 2022 as it had partnered with Barcelona football club, reported aviospace.org.

Photo: Qatar Airways

In 2022, the airline used a special livery on its operations during the World Cup. However, the airline had revealed the livery as far back as 2020.

Qatar was the official partner of FIFA during the event, and as reported by thedesignair.net, the Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker was buoyed when the special livery was made public:

“We are tremendously excited to celebrate our partnership with FIFA and Qatar’s status as host of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 by introducing this unique aircraft to our fleet. As Official Partner and Official Airline of FIFA, we can feel the excitement building with two years to go until we will welcome the world to our beautiful country.”

2 Retro Livery in 2022

Marking the 25th year of its operations

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

In 2022, the flag carrier Qatar, Qatar Airways, unveiled a special livery marking the twenty-fifth year of its anniversary. The livery was first revealed on the Boeing 777-300ER and took to the skies along various routes throughout 2022.

When the livery was revealed, the Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker commented:

“We are tremendously excited to celebrate our 25th anniversary by introducing this unique aircraft to our fleet. We hope this retro design will bring many memories of travel to our passengers, especially those who experienced travelling with us in our early years. This livery marks the milestone of how far we have come as the national carrier, evolving into a six-time World’s Best Airline winner.”

Ever since the carrier started its operations, it has evolved into a major carrier in the Middle East, helping the region it is in as a seminal one in intercontinetal travel.

3 Partnering with Formula 1

Taking the mantle from Emirates

After Qatar Airways (QR) became the official partner of Formula 1, it got a new special livery dubbed the “Official Global Airline Partner of Formula 1”. The livery had a Formula 1 logo on the rear end of the fuselage. Further, the forward section was draped with the colors of a driver.

Photo: Qatar Airways

QR’s use of the purple, maroon, and black colors to portray the driver ensured that the standard livery of the carrier blended perfectly with the new design. The livery was made public in August on an aircraft that first flew in July 2017. The aircraft has 312 Economy Class seats, 42 QSuite Business Class seats with 777, and is just over six years old.

Qatar had taken the sponsorship over from Emirates, which canceled the F1 sponsorship it previously had as the carrier believed that F1 was asking too much for a sponsorship deal, reported AeroXplorer.

4 Paris Saint-Germain

Donning the colors of the biggest club in France

We had previously (albeit briefly) touched upon how Qatar had partnerships with clubs such as Barcelona in the past. After the end of the 2022 World Cup, Qatar partnered with another giant of a football club. The notable difference was that the club was the biggest in France – Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

The aircraft it chose for its operations was the Boeing 777. The logo of PSG was painted on the fuselage, just above the wings. The aircraft also featured a painting of a footballer draped in the colors of the club and in a motion to kick a football. The face of the footballer was silhouetted.

Photo: Qatar Airways

A year ago, QR had become the official jersey partner of PSG. On the occasion, the French club commented:

“This announcement marks a new phase in the relationship between the French capital club and the leading global airline. Paris Saint-Germain will play an important role in Qatar Airways’ extensive sponsorship portfolio and will connect and engage its brand with the club’s hundreds of million fans world-wide, whilst providing unique experiences to reward its Privilege Club members – which will become the Official Frequent Flyer Programme of Paris Saint-Germain.”

Here are a few notable things about the partnership between PSG and QR:

• After the jersey partnership, it was announced that Qatar Airways Holidays would offer official Paris Saint-Germain fan travel packages.
• The club also noted that Qatar Duty Free (QDF) would be its Official Airport and Official Duty Free, respectively.

5 Expo-themed livery in 2023

The only A330 on this list

On October 1, 2023, Qatar Airways announced the addition of the Expo 2023 livery to many of the special liveries it has had throughout the years. The livery was painted on Qatar’s Airbus A330-300. The Expo 2023 was also called the 2023 International Horticultural Exposition and lasted from October 2023 to March 2024. The expo was organized in one of the biggest parks in Doha overlooking the Persian Gulf – Al Bidda Park.

Photo: Qatar Airways

During the unveiling of the new livery, the Minister of Municipality, His Excellency Mr. Abdulla bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie, commented:

“Expo 2023 Doha is a beacon of Qatar’s commitment to sustainable development and environmental progress. With esteemed partners like Qatar Airways, we are poised to deliver an Expo experience that resonates globally and inspires positive change.”

The expo, whose theme was “Green Desert, Better Environment”, was aimed at drawing up innovative approaches to combat desertification. Qatar Airways also offered an enriching in-flight experience that included:

• à la carte menu and curated beverages that highlighted Qatari farm-sourced ingredients.
• Expo-themed in-flight entertainment, with gardening-related shows.