Brussels Airlines and Tomorrowland reveal new Belgian Icon Amare

On Thursday 25 April 2024 Brussels Airlines and Tomorrowland hosted a special event at the airline’s Maintenance & Engineering hangar at Brussels Airport to reveal a new Belgian Icon Amare, representing the music festival and the airline all over the world. It is the very first time that an aircraft livery features augmented reality. Both partners also confirmed their engagement to make the Tomorrowland flights more sustainable.

Special Event

During a special event hosted by Brussels Airlines and Tomorrowland in the airline’s Maintenance & Engineering hangar at Brussels Airport, the new Belgian Icon livery was presented to employees of both Brussels Airlines and Tomorrowland, special guests and various media. The new Belgian Icon is a tribute to the world-famous music festival Tomorrowland and demonstrates once more the Belgitude of Brussels Airlines, whereby the airline brings the world to Belgium and brings the best of Belgium to the world. Airbus A320-251N OO-SBB is the second aircraft of Brussels Airlines that gets a distinctive Belgian Icon livery to promote Tomorrowland, after Airbus Airbus A320-214 OO-SNF (which was repainted into the airline’s standard livery in early 2024).

Augmented Reality

Amare is the first aircraft in the world to feature augmented reality in its livery as the bird comes to life when scanned through specific social media channels such as Instagram and TikTok. This feature provides the so-called ‘People of Tomorrow’ a first augmented storytelling behind the magical creature Amare, which symbolizes unity and transcending time and space. The whole design process of the livery took about 15 months and great attention has been given to details, from the feathers of the bird to the sparkles of the fireworks transitioning into the logo of Brussels Airlines.

Exploring The World In A More Responsible Way

Both partners are aware of their environmental impact and have made great effort to reduce this impact over the past few years. This was highlighted during keynote speeches by Dorothea von Boxberg, CEO of Brussels Airlines and Bruno Vanwelsenaers, CEO of Tomorrowland.

Amare is the second brand-new Airbus A320neo (Airbus A320-251N OO-SBB) to join the Brussels Airlines fleet. ​The Airbus A320neo emits up to 20% less CO2 and up to 50% less noise than its predecessors. The new Amare is thus a tangible example of how Brussels Airlines and Tomorrowland are aiming to reduce their ecological impact. Furthermore, all ‘Global Journey Packages’ that Brussels Airlines and Tomorrowland sell, will from now on be ‘Green Fares’, which compensate the flight emissions ​ with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (‘SAF’) (20%) and qualitative CO2-reducing programmes (80%). To top it off, Tomorrowland and Brussels Airlines signed an agreement to invest in the purchase of SAF to compensate the total carbon emissions of all party flights that will be operated.

Dorothea von Boxberg, CEO of Brussels Airlines, said: “Brussels Airlines has been a proud partner of Tomorrowland since 2012 and I am happy to announce that we will extend this partnership until 2028. We have many things in common such as the passion to explore the world and connecting cultures, but also the awareness of our environmental footprint and our willingness to take the necessary steps to reduce our impact. These shared values make this partnership such a success.“

Dorothea von Boxberg, CEO of Brussels Airlines

Maiden Flight

Airbus A320-251N OO-SBB was delivered to Brussels Airlines at the end of 2023 and has been operating commercial flights wearing a neutral white livery since 6 February 2024. Now that it has been repainted into the striking Belgian Icon Amare livery, it will not only bring festivalgoers to Tomorrowland but will continue to operate regular commercial flights. Its first commercial flight wearing the new livery will be on Friday 26 April 2024, operating Brussels Airlines flight SN3781 from Brussels to Tenerife.

About The Design Of Amare

Amare is a Tomorrowland icon symbolizing bringing people together and is actually synonymous with Unity. ​In the Tomorrowland Universe, the bird is the only one able to travel through different Tomorrowland worlds via Paperworld (the magical parallel spectrum that connects the ​ different worlds). So from this line of thought, Amare was visualized as if the magical bird was traveling through the “spectrum of space” by having him fade out towards the back. This also conveys a stronger sense of motion and makes the aircraft even more dynamic and modern.
​This also emphasizes the very iconic head of Amare that is now known by many.

Furthermore, the new visualization also exudes a tremendous power in magic through energy lines and particles that are in the direction of motion, this to further emphasize that Amare is a magical being that is constantly in motion with the purpose of bringing people together.

About the Brussels Airlines Belgian Icons

Since 2015 Brussels Airlines has introduced several special Belgian Icons liveries:

• Rackham: Airbus A320-214 OO-SNB Rackham was introduced in 2015 and pays tribute to the world-famous Belgian comic Tintin.
• Magritte: Airbus A320-214 OO-SNC Magritte was introduced in 2016 and has been repainted in 2021. The aircraft was a homage to the Belgian surrealistic painter René Magritte.
• Trident: Airbus A320-214 OO-SNA Trident was introduced in 2016 and operated its final Brussels Airlines flight in 2022. The aircraft was the official plane of the Belgian Red Devils, the Belgian national football team.
• Trident: Airbus A320-214 OO-SNO Trident entered the Brussels Airlines fleet in 2022 and became the new Trident in late 2022, this time also proudly representing the Belgian Red Flames, the Belgian female national football team.
• Amare: Airbus A320-214 OO-SNF Amare became the first Belgian Icon to pay tribute to Tomorrowland in 2017 until it was repainted in early 2024.
• Amare: Airbus A320-251N OO-SBB Amare entered the Brussels Airlines fleet in late 2023 and became the new Amare in April 2024.
• Aerosmurf: Airbus A320-214 OO-SND Aerosmurf was introduced in 2018 and operated its final Brussels Airlines flight in early 2024.
• Bruegel: Airbus A320-214 OO-SNE Bruegel was introduced in 2019 and has been repainted in late 2023.

Three Belgian Icons are still flying at moment of writing: Rackham, Trident and the new Amare.

The idea behind the Belgian Icons is to introduce the best of Belgium to the world. The Belgian Icons are known all over the world and make flying even more fun.

25 April 2024