Logos can be very important no matter what business you’re in. Big companies invest a lot of money in unique logos that can express their business beliefs, their services or the products they sell. Practically, the logo represents the symbol of the company, thus the entire meaning of a company reducing to a symbol.
Logos have to be expressive and show the viewer a comprehensive image of the company bearing that logo. That’s the way with airline companies also and that’s why almost every time you see an airline company logo you see… wings, birds or airplanes. This is because it’s meant to make you instantly understand it’s something related to flying when you see the logo. Branding is greatly important and its core extends to logo design. With the company name comes a logo and a catchy tagline and many companies either use a depiction of an airplane, shapes that resemble wings or other minimalist and conceptual symbols related to the country of origin of the company.
This article shows you a list of 25 airline logos with striking designs that can inspire you.
British Airways
British Airways is one of the largest airline companies in the United Kingdom and began transporting passengers in 1974.
Etihad Airways
Etihad Airways is the second-largest airline of the UAE and it started operations in 2003.
Malaysia Airlines
Malaysia Airlines was founded in 1947, commenced operations in 1972 and is based in Kuala Lumpur. As you can see, the logo clearly states the country and has a symbolic representation of a bird.
Tarom Airline
Tarom Airline is the sole Romanian Airline company and is based in Bucharest. The logo is a minimalist one and it symbolizes a bird-airplane figure on a back wing covered in the color of the national flag of Romania.
Fiji Airways
Fiji Airways was founded in 1947 and commenced operations in 1951. The logo has no relation to flying, birds or airplanes.
Japan Airlines
Japan Airlines is the second largest airline company of Japan. It was founded and commenced operations in 1951 and now has a more stylised and minimalist logo.
Brussels Airlines
Brussels Airlines is the largest airline of Belgium and is based in Brussels. The logo is very simple and is a symbolic representation of the B letter in Brussels and also of the landing track lights.
Air India
Air India is one of the biggest carrier airlines in India. It was founded in 1932 and started operations in 1946. The logo clearly shows a bird in the sunny sky.
Philippine Airlines
Philippine Airlines was founded in 1935 and started operations in 1941. The logo is very minimalist and depicts 2 colored back wings of an airplane.
Royal Dutch Airlines
The KLM Royal Dutch Airlines company was founded 98 years ago and is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. The logo is a simple text one showing also a crown over the initials of the company.
Avianca Airline
Avianca was founded in 1919 and one of the largest Colombian airlines. Avianca logo depicts a flying bird.
LOT Polish Airlines
Polish Airlines is the flag carrier of Poland, is based in Warsaw and was founded in 1928. Polish Airlines logo is text-based and depicts in the center of it a flying airplane.
Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey and it was established 84 years ago. The logo is a minimalist one showing a flying bird.
Royal Brunei Airlines
Royal Brunei Airlines is the national flag carrier airline of Brunei Darussalam, is established in Bandar Seri Begawan and was founded in 1974 but commenced operations a year later.
South African Airways
South African Airways is the flag carrier airline of South Africa. Is based in Ekurhuleni and was founded in 1934. The logo shows a back wing of an airplane covered in the national flag colors of South Africa.
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Is based in Auckland and was established in 1940 but commenced operation in 1965.
Widerøe Airlines
Widerøe Airlines is the largest airline company operating in the Nordic countries. Widerøe company was founded 84 years ago and has a minimalist logo which depicts a symbolic flying bird.
Lufthansa Airline
Lufthansa is the largest German airline company and recently became the largest in Europe. Lufthansa was founded in 1953 and started operations in 1955. The logo depicts a stylised flying bird.
Cathay Dragon Airline
Hong Kong Dragon Airlines also known as Cathay Dragon and previously as Dragonair, is an airline company based in Hong Kong which was founded and commenced operations in 1985. The logo depicts a minimalist flying bird.
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. It was founded in 1937, commenced operation in 1965 and the logo shows a simple maple leaf as the Canadian national symbol and flag.
Air France
Air France is a French airline company and was founded in 1933. The logo is a minimalist one with text and symbol.
Austrian Airlines
Founded in 1957, Austrian Airlines represents the largest Austrian airline company. The logo depicts a stylised flying bird.
Croatia Airlines
Croatia Airlines started operations 28 years ago and is headquartered near Zagreb. The logo shows a minimalist flying bird seen from below, all covered in the colors of Croatia’s national flag.
Garuda Indonesia Airline
Garuda Indonesia is the national airline of Indonesia, was founded in 1947, commenced operations in 1949 and is located near Jakarta. Garuda Indonesia logo depicts a stylised bird with its wings winded when flying.
Do you feel that any other airline logos should be in this roundup? Let us know!
Have you seen AeroMexico’s logo? It is my favorite airline logo. It shows the country’s cultural origins plus the national symbol, the eagle.