China Eastern has revealed a new logo on its official website.
The airline has kept the “swallow” as the core element of the logo, alongside the red and blue colours. But unlike the “circle-logo” style from the 80s, the new design has a different shape.
The symbolism of the logo remains intact. The swallow’s head and wings are in red, meaning “sunrise in the east”, which symbolises “hope”, “excellence” and “passion”. The blue-coloured bird tail means “be tolerant to diversity’, to represent the carrier’s “various”, “inclusive” and “logical” services. China Eastern’s letters “C” and “E”, are also visible in the flying swallow.
The company kept the swallow as the logo, because it is believed the bird can bring good fortune. The swallow traditionally leaves in autumn and comes back in spring, bringing hope and luck with it. Similarly in western culture, sailors would have swallows tattooed on their arms to show that they were proud of their experience, as well as to bring them luck on their travels.
The new logo will be painted on the airline’s first B777-300ER once it is delivered in end of this month. The livery will be simple and mostly white in colour, following the main design trend of other international carriers such as Air France, Lufthansa and American Airlines. The airline plans to have all its aircraft kitted out with the new design in the next five years.
Four B777-300ERs will be delivered within this year, and starting from November, the new aircraft will serve the Los Angeles and New York route. There will be ten more of the model joining the fleet in 2015 and 2016, which will be flying to destinations in North America. By 2018, the airline aims to have 20 B777-300ERs in its fleet.
Visit flychinaeastern.com
Valerian Ho
