China Eastern Launches New Visual Identity System

China Eastern Airlines (MU) launched its new visual identity system (VIS) at a press conference on Tuesday, marking a bold step forward in its brand building exercise.



The announcement of China Eastern's modern new VIS introduces a striking new logo, a new livery design, the base colors for its brand, auxiliary graphics and so on. China Eastern's brand strategy based on its new VIS will promote the airline's evolution, accelerate its international expansion and create its brand competitiveness in long term.



The new logo retains the key element from the previous logo - the "Swallow", which is a symbol of auspiciousness. The deference lies in that the new logo features a swallow in the colors of red and blue, compared with the original white swallow on a circle background comprised of a red semicircle resembling the Sun and a dark blue semicircle resembling the seas. The "Swallow" is also a transfiguration of the word "CE", short for "China Eastern", which is now more easily recognizable.



The new livery design looks simpler and more modern than the old one which was introduced in 1980s. The fuselage is painted Eurowhite with the waistline removed. The new livery design is given a modern interpretation and represents the airline's evolution to an international airline.



The new VIS was designed by Bang, a leading brand and VI solution provider. China Eastern and its partner did comprehensive research and contest to determine how best to create the new look. The new logo and livery painting were finally nailed down in September 2013.

China Eastern will change its aircraft livery in a cost effective approach by using a phased rollout. All aircraft are expected to receive the newly painted livery within 5 years.

The Shanghai-based carrier will introduce its first Boeing 777-300ER in late September. The 777-300ER is the first aircraft painted in the new look of the airline.
It is learnt that China Eastern will take delivery of four 777-300ERs within the year. In the next three years, the airline will increase the frequency of its North American routes and enhance its competitiveness on the Trans-Pacific routes with its updated services in both software and hardware.

China Eastern said the first 777-300ER will be deployed on services to Los Angeles and New York from November. Ten more 777-300ERs will join the fleet of China Eastern between 2015 and 2016, with the rest delivered through 2018.