The Belgian company Brussels Airlines has unveiled an Airbus A320, which they have named
Rackham, which will fly in a striking new livery based upon the design of Professor Calculus's shark sub.
Nick and Fanny Rodwell were there to see the launch, representing Moulinsart, which has partnered with the airline for the new look, which will be in service until 2019.
After the unveiling,
Rackham's maiden voyage took place, a 1 hour and 45 minutes flight to Toulouse.
You can see photos of the aircraft
here, in a report from Le Soir.
There are more pictures in this gallery, courtesy of the Brussels Airlines press-office,
now up on the Tintinologist Facebook page, which show that in addition to the exterior, the interior has also been styled with Hergé detailing, including some striking murals.
The press release tells us that, "Brussels Airlines worked with aircraft paint artist Andre Eisele, who had the challenging task to adapt the perspective of the drawings prepared by Moulinsart's graphic designers to the unusual curves of an aircraft fuselage, to get as close to the original shark submarine design as possible. The entire paint job took 1500 man hours in total." According to an accompanying info-graphic, it also involved 5km of masking tape!
There is also a fascinating video on YouTube posted by the airline, showing the work being done on the 'plane by the painters.
You are encouraged to post any sightings, or photos you get, to Twitter, using the hash-tag #SNRackham - and perhaps you'd let us know too!
