Brussels Airlines lets public vote on new customised aircraft design

After inviting the public to design its next customised aircraft, Brussels Airlines is now letting the public decide on a top five from 15 selected designs. Voting is open until 11 October.

In August, Brussels Airlines launched a competition to find a new design for its next customised aircraft. Designs could be submitted until 27 September. From 900 creations submitted, a jury made a selection of 15 designs, from Manneken Pis to pigeon racing. Now the general public gets to decide the top five in a poll. 

“We judged the designs based on some important criteria: the new Belgian icon must be different from all previous icons, it must be about something that all Belgians can be proud of and that is also recognised abroad,” says marketing director Michel Moriaux in a press release. 

According to Brussels Airlines, the most popular categories among the entries were cycling, art nouveau, Jean-Michel Folon and Adolphe Sax, as well as cartoon characters such as Lucky Luke and Marsupilami. 

The selected designs are now visible on the Brussels Airlines website. Voting is open until 11 October. The five designs with the most votes will be presented to an external jury, which will consist of Hooverphonic’s Alex Callier and comic strip creator Philippe Geluck, among others. They will decide on the final design on 14 October. In spring 2025, the new customised aircraft will be presented to the general public. 

Three Belgian icons are currently part of the Brussels Airlines fleet: Rackham, a tribute to the comic strip hero Tintin, Amare, inaugurated this year and produced with the Tomorrowland electronic music festival, and Trident, the official aircraft of the Red Devils and Red Flames, the national football teams.

^{The Amare aircraft, a collaboration between Brussels Airlines and Tomorrowland © BELGA PHOTO FREDERIK UREEL}