Norwegian has chosen British author Jane Austen to become its latest ‘tail fin hero’.
The renowned author’s portrait will grace the tail fin of a Norwegian Dreamliner aircraft, as 2017 marked the 200th anniversary of her death.
The airline has always used iconic figures to decorate the tail fins of its distinctive aircraft. It usually chooses personalities who symbolise the airline’s spirit by pushing boundaries, challenging the norm and inspiring others.
To reflect Norwegian’s rapid growth in the UK, where it now flies 5 million UK passengers each year to more than 50 destinations, the airline is rolling out a series of British tail fin heroes.
Jane Austen will become Norwegian’s sixth British tail fin hero, following the announcement of rock legend Freddie Mercury, footballer Bobby Moore, children’s authorRoald Dahl, pioneering pilot Amy Johnson and aviation maverick Sir Freddie Laker.
Jane Austen, one of the world’s most famous authors, born on 16th December 1775, spent most of her life in the historic and beautiful county of Hampshire. Its houses, countryside and people provided the inspiration for many of her novels. It was during her time in the quiet village of Chawton that she wrote and revised six of her most famous novels – Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice and Northanger Abbey, and wrote Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion. It wasn’t until 1810 that her first novel Sense & Sensibility was accepted for publishing by Thomas Egerton.
Norwegian’s Chief Commercial Officer Thomas Ramdahl said: “As Norwegian continues its rapid expansion in the UK, our ‘tail fin heroes’ offer us a perfect chance to pay tribute to some of the greatest Britons of all time. Jane Austen has inspired generations and as the world celebrates her bicentenary it is a huge honour to have one of the greatest authors of all time adorn our aircraft.”
The portrait of Jane Austen, which will be used to adorn the tail of a Norwegian aircraft, has been taken from a late nineteenth-century engraving, commissioned by Jane Austen’s nephew. The engraving is based upon National Portrait Gallery London’s pencil and watercolour sketch of Jane Austen, by her sister and closest confidante Cassandra Austen in 1810.
The Jane Austen tail fin will take to the skies next summer when it will adorn a Norwegian Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
For more information visit www.norwegian.com/uk
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