What's the first thing you think of when you hear 'Russia'?Chances are sunflowers aren't one of them.
But that's exactly the motif sported on Kuban's new livery, designed by UK-based Honour Branding. The livery appears on two B737s leased from ILFC, Honour Branding says. The B737s are at East Midlands Airport awaiting to fly back to Russia. Kuban services the Krasnodar or Kuban region of Southern Russia. The region will host the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
Kuban is owned by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, the CEO of Basic Element, an investment firm with interests in natural resources but also financial services and aviation.
Honour Branding says:
The rebranding is part of an investment programme aimed at making Kuban one of top ten Russian airlines on domestic and international routes as it seeks to capitalize on the growing popularity of the region's resorts and upcoming Olympics. The strategy includes a complete renovation of Kuban's fleet, with ten brand new Boeing 737-700 NG (New Generation) and another ten state-of-the-art Russian-built planes to be added over the next three to five years. Kuban also plans to extend its international network, flying to new destinations in Europe and Asia.Honour Branding says of the livery:
As part of the first phase of investment, Kuban is leasing four Boeing 737-300 from ILFC for a transition period of three years, needed to retrain pilots and prepare Kuban's maintenance base to service the new fleet.
People of Krasnodar are extremely proud - proud of the region and its agricultural output, the spa resorts and Sochi ( 2014 Winter Olympics) as well as its growing business centre, so it was an obvious choice for them to choose their regional flower as a symbol for their airline's identity.
They wanted to shift perceptions of the brand and the region, and for customers to be uplifted by the new livery rather than be oblivious of yet another indistinctive 'corporate flag' scheme.
(Images: Honour Branding)
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