LATAM Airlines Retires Last Aircraft in Former LAN Livery, Closing a Historic Chapter
A LAN-Liveried Boeing 767-300F Flew from Miami to Abu Dhabi via Brussels, Marking the End of a Historic Visual Era.
LATAM Airlines has initiated the repainting of the last aircraft bearing the former LAN Airlines livery, completing the visual transition to its current corporate identity. The aircraft in question, a Boeing 767 freighter registered N418LA, was transferred from Miami to Brussels on June 12, and then to Abu Dhabi on June 13, where it will undergo maintenance and repainting.
Abu Dhabi serves as one of LATAM’s main hubs for wide-body fleet maintenance and repainting, alongside Mexicana’s MRO facilities in North America, covering both Boeing 787 and 767 aircraft.
This move closes a chapter that began in 2016, when the LATAM brand was introduced following the merger of LAN and TAM. Since then, the airline has progressively worked to unify its visual identity across its entire fleet.
A Livery with Strong Regional Roots
The livery used by LAN Airlines from 2004 to 2016 was adopted across its regional subsidiaries in Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia, establishing a unified visual identity in South America. It was characterized by a blue tail with a white star and a red stripe on the rear fuselage.
For frequent flyers and aviation enthusiasts, this livery—along with earlier designs from the 1980s and 1990s that featured bold red and blue colors—remains one of the most iconic and memorable in the airline’s history.
The LAN Chile Boeing 767-200ER, which modernized the fleet in place of aging Boeing 707-300s and DC-10s, symbolized the airline's ambition, bearing the distinctive livery and evoking Chilean pride through the solitary star, a nod to the national flag.
It also symbolized the roots and Chilean identity by preserving the lone star featured on the national flag. The following YouTube video is arguably the airline’s best commercial in its entire history:
Beyond its exterior design, LAN Airlines also developed a strong brand identity through advertising and onboard visuals. In the 2000s and early 2010s, its promotional campaigns combined sweeping images of South America with epic soundtracks and the tagline “El Encanto de Volar” (The Charm of Flying), projecting a brand deeply connected to place and the emotional allure of air travel.
LAN’s Argentina launch commercial and its minimalist, visually cohesive safety video are also fondly remembered for their clarity and stylistic consistency.
End of an Era, Brand Identity Fully Unified
The completion of the visual transition marks LATAM Airlines Group’s full consolidation as a single, international brand. The current livery—introduced in May 2016—features a white fuselage with sweeping accents in blue, red, and violet, aligning all group operations under one cohesive image.
With the repainting of the last LAN-liveried aircraft, LATAM closes a transformation that was operational, commercial, and aesthetic. The livery's retirement is more than a cosmetic change; it marks the end of an era spanning over a decade of business evolution.
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