operated by Gulf Air from its Bahrain base. When the aircraft arrive in Bahrain, they are wearing XL’s distinctive markings. When they leave, it’s Gulf Air’s striking white, gold and blue design which will be turning heads on the operator’s regional routes.

The ‘planes’ new liveries are printed on Metamark MD7 cast, digital vinyl and subsequently laminated with the product’s matching Metamark MG900 laminating film. Its application is nothing less than an art. Entrapped air and debris can’t be tolerated so the livery is applied with forensic care by Grays’ application team. Cherry pickers are used to get the crew alongside, under, above and behind their multi-dimensional application challenge. Metamark MD7’s handling tolerant adhesive makes a challenging job less so and the results are stunning.

The Metamark MD7 is printed using a Mutoh printer and its Eco inks – a materials alliance that’s widely trusted for its razor-sharp resolution and enduring..

Totally transforming the appearance of a large, passenger jet is a feat that only a relative handful of specialists around the world are qualified and experienced enough to undertake. It’s a specialisation that Paddock Wood based Grays Aerospace has made its own...

Clearly, there’s more to decorating jet aircraft than first impressions might suggest. How do you apply materials to a substrate that will be exposed to temperatures so low that they could kill in moments? A substrate that’s raked by airflow comfortably in excess of supersonic speeds and capable of eroding metal? The answer, of course, is you don’t – you leave it to the experts.

The latest aircraft to find themselves having a total livery transformation by Grays Aerospace are