I’ve gotta hand it to Lufthansa, this is one of the coolest special liveries we’ve seen.
Lufthansa highlights crane with 100th anniversary livery
Lufthansa is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026, and to mark this special occasion, the airline will be introducing a Boeing 787-9 in a special centennial livery. This Dreamliner is currently in Charleston (CHS), and is expected to be delivered to Frankfurt (FRA) in November 2025, prior to entering service in December. Hopefully Lufthansa can afford to pay for the plane!
Lufthansa’s special anniversary livery heavily emphasizes the crane, which is a unique aspect of Lufthansa’s identity since the airline began operations. Here’s how Lufthansa describes this special livery:
The special livery features a blue fuselage with a white crane hovering above it, its wings merging into the wings of the aircraft. The wings of the aircraft thus virtually become the wings of the crane. An unprecedented design that combines movement and elegance, tradition and the future. Designed as a trademark by graphic designer and architect Otto Firle in 1918, the crane has become Lufthansa’s unmistakable distinguishing feature worldwide over the decades.
In addition to the crane, the numerals “100” are integrated on the left side of the fuselage and the lettering “1926 / 2026” on the right side. A “100” logo is also painted on the underside of the aircraft.
Here’s how Lufthansa CEO Jens Ritter describes the new livery:
“Our Lufthansa crane stands for safety, pioneering spirit, premium quality, but also for freedom and reliability. This has been the case for the past 100 years and will continue to be so in the future. We are proud of our tradition and our values, and we look forward to continuing our great history. The special livery of the Boeing 787 honors our identity and also stands for a proud team of Lufthansa employees who give everything every day for the safety and well-being of our guests.”
Now this is what I call a special livery!
Obviously as an aviation geek, I take more interest in aircraft liveries than the average person. I think Lufthansa’s special anniversary livery is really well done. In particular, I love how abstractly yet prominently the crane is integrated into this livery, and how much this is actually an evolution of the carrier’s standard livery (rather than being something completely different).
The heavy use of blue and white reminds me of Delta’s centennial livery A350 that was unveiled a while back. The difference, of course, is that Lufthansa’s standard livery is blue and white, while Delta’s isn’t, so Delta’s special livery was a bit more random, in that sense.
The special Lufthansa livery also reminds me a little of Riyadh Air’s purple livery, since nowadays it’s not often we see liveries that have such heavy use of a tone other than white.
Bottom line
Lufthansa has just revealed its special 100th anniversary livery, which will be on a newly delivered Dreamliner. It’s one of the coolest special liveries that we’ve seen from any airline, in my opinion, and emphasizes the crane more than any previous paint job.
What do you make of Lufthansa’s Dreamliner centennial livery?
