Coating aircraft doesn’t just involve painting the ones that fly. We also provide coatings for those that stay on the ground.

The latest project saw us supply paint and decorative film for an Airbus A380 which was recently added to the collection at the Aeroscopia Aeronautical Museum located in Blagnac, France.

Preparing it for display was a major task. It took four weeks and involved 50 painters from Airbus and Satys. The aircraft was coated with our newly qualified external chromate-free primer (Aerodur HS 2121) and top coated with Aerobase basecoat and Aviox Clearcoat UV. The finishing touch (our AkzoNobel logo) was applied using our own decorative films.

“This airplane means a lot to us at AkzoNobel,” said Airbus Key Account Manager, Maud Khelstovsky. “We’re proud to be part of the A380 adventure with Airbus and our airline customers and excited to see how this new exhibit will be appreciated by the thousands of people who visit the museum every year.”

The Aeroscopia museum welcomes around 200,000 visitors annually. The Airbus A380 MSN2 has been located in a prime position, where it is also clearly visible from a nearby motorway. Which is hardly surprising, as it’s the world’s largest passenger airliner.

Earlier this year, our aerospace coatings were also used to lovingly restore a United Airlines Douglas DC-8. After flying more than 18 million miles in 14 years, the aircraft is now on static display at the California Science Center in the US.