Cargolux celebrates half a century with retro design

The Luxembourg cargo airline Cargolux is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. To celebrate this occasion in a fitting manner, a Boeing 747 in retro design has been flying for the airline since yesterday. So if you want to see a piece of aviation history in the sky, you should look out for LX-NCL.

The retro design of the freighter aircraft corresponds to the livery that the first Cargolux aircraft had in 1970. However, it was not Boeings, but Canadair CL-44s that were used for the first years. Later, the fleet was expanded with Douglas DC-8s and finally, in 1979, the first Boeing 747s began service at Cargolux. Today, the entire fleet consists only of Boeing 747s, but the now repainted LX-NCL also has a special history. Originally commissioned 14 years ago by the Chinese cargo airline Jade Cargo, it changed hands several times until it took off for Cargolux at the beginning of this year.

WingMag congratulates Cargolux on 50 years and a great retro design comeback. We are impressed by the development of the airline. Despite having its base in a relatively small country, it is ranked 7th among the largest international cargo airlines. To all those who cannot get enough after this excursion into a small part of aviation history, we recommend our report on Flying – The History of Mankind’s Dream.

Picture © Hans Dorries

by Johanna Koyser