El Al paint a new Boeing 787 Dreamliner in retro colours

El Al are commemorating their 70th anniversary by painting their newest Boeing 787 Dreamliner in a retro livery. This livery is the same as that introduced on their Boeing 707 aircraft back in 1961.

Airlines with a long history sometimes choose to look back by doing this kind of thing. For plane spotters and older people, it is a great reflection of a bygone era to see these in the sky once again.

El Al Boeing 787-9

The new aircraft is registered 4X-EDF and will soon be in service. Pictures from the paint shop have been released and you can see examples below.

Cheatlines are not on trend any longer, so it immediately stands out as being different. When positioned among all the other aircraft at an airport, it will be easy to identify.

How Close Is It To The Original?

Boeing 707s of the era usually had a bare metal finish on the underside of the aircraft. This is now uncommon as the paint protects the aircraft, so on these modern recreations grey paint is used instead.

You can see the original above and it shows the new version is pretty faithful. People who flew back in the 1960s should remember it very well.

Other Retro Liveries

Several airlines with long histories have painted aircraft in retro colours. I was lucky enough to fly on the Qantas aircraft decked out in the original 1959 jet livery which was fun. They also have one in their 1970s colours.

Aer Lingus also have an Airbus A320 painted in their original colours and American Airlines does the same. They are great to see at an airport!

Overall Thoughts

Celebrating the history of an airline with throwback liveries is something aviation fans like. Getting to fly on one is fun, though the interiors remain thoroughly modern. It would probably be a shock to the system to have a retro interior too.

Have you ever been on a retro jet? What do you think of these? Thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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El Al images via ly787 on FlyerTalk.
Boeing 707 image by Clinton Groves via Wikimedia Commons.