With just 12 days to go, Gulf Air, the official airline and the title sponsor of 2008 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, has taken the race excitement to the skies-literally. Gulf Air has dressed up a whole aircraft body with a Formula One theme livery, which was unveiled recently by Gulf Air Chief Executive Officer Mr. Bjorn Naf in the presence of senior government officials, VIPs, business partners and the media in a function held at the Bahrain International Airport.

“There is an air of excitement and celebration everywhere with the Kingdom’s and the region’s biggest motorsport spectacle just around the corner,” says Mr. Naf. “Gulf Air, as the national carrier of the Kingdom, is taking this carnival atmosphere to greater heights by dedicating an aircraft painted with F1 theme livery.”

“We wanted to create a theme that embodies the spirit of nationalism and modernity and, at the same time, conveys the message that the Kingdom is a prominent sporting destination in the region and the national carrier, Gulf Air is the sports ambassador of the Kingdom,”  concludes Mr. Naf.

The entire theme, design and colour has been conceived and created by Bahraini Mr. Bader Yousif Murad, Aircraft Analysis Manager with Gulf Air Corporate Development department and an artist with a passion for aviation since childhood.

“The design and colour combination represented by the black and white-checkered F1 flag and the bright red colour in the Kingdom’s national flag, in perfect alignment with Gulf Air’s brand colour gold, renders an aura of elegance and sophistication to the entire aircraft,” says Mr. Murad.

“The flow and direction of every angle in the design creates a virtual race track imagery, disappearing into infinity and reappearing continuously. I am sure it will be an exceptional sight in the sky and on the ground,” concludes Mr. Murad.

The aircraft will be flying throughout Gulf Air network the whole year promoting Bahrain and the most popular F1 sport.

Nearly 32 skilled artisans and technicians spent more than 7,000 man-hours in about 21 days on the Airbus 330 aircraft painting the design that consumed 7000 litres of paint.