British Airways really stirred things up with their "World Tails". People either loved them or hated them. Feelings were so strong that Margaret Thatcher gave the tails her thumbs down and the CEO of BA lost his job. In the mean time Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic Airlines capitalized on the situation calling his airline "Britain`s Flag Carrier". Whatever the opinion you may have, these tails have proven to be a big hit with photographers!
Some of the art was applied with variations on different aircraft. The variations come from the application of different parts of the original artwork to the tails of the aircraft. In some cases, such as Crossing Borders; the variations result in unique tails. In other cases the variations are more subtle, for example; the Colum art on 747s G-BNLC and G-CIVP looks similar but is not the same.
Currently no aircraft remain in the World Tail colors.
* Artwork is used with permission from David Apps. Special thanks to David and Bryan L. for making many of these shots possible, especially the 747 shots!
