NetJets Europe Unveils Bespoke Tail Design to Celebrate 12-Year Partnership With Art Basel
16 JUNE 2015, LONDON, U.K. – NetJets Europe – a Berkshire Hathaway-backed company, today unveiled a unique tail design on board one of its brand new Signature Series Challenger 350 jets.
NetJets Europe has been an official partner of Art Basel for twelve years. Ahead of the Basel show opening on 18 June, the private aviation firm chose to work with Timorous Beasties – a British design firm famed for their extravagant pattern-repeated flora and fauna – and decorate the tail fin of its latest jet with a chevron design featuring moths in the company’s livery colours.
Marine Eugene, Executive Director of Sales for NetJets Europe commented: “Art is a topic close to many of our customers’ hearts. Our partnership with Art Basel has allowed us to host our customers at the event and invite them to intimate, previews of the world-class art on display. This year we wanted to celebrate twelve years of working together and use our newest Signature Series Challenger 350 jet as a canvas to create something beautiful. We feel passionately about delivering the most innovative service to our customers and are sure they will love seeing the marriage of flying machines and flying insects this year.”
Multi-award winning designers, Timorous Beasties, are famous for fusing pattern across the spectrum of the natural world and society in a unique way to create very special designs. They were briefed by NetJets Europe to deliver an eye-catching design that complemented the notion of air travel along with recognising the company’s engagement with design and art. The resulting tail artwork took two months to create, and was applied by a specialist completions company to the aircraft over a ten hour period.
“Our moth design is something of which we’re really fond. It’s a pattern repeat that follows a very simple logic, but possesses a profound visual effect – a device that really lends itself to universal scales. And being given the opportunity to take it to this breath-taking size – to think about it in terms of a surface application to the architecture of aerodynamics – is really very special. Collaborating with NetJets has literally taken our moth design to its greatest height,” said Paul Simmons and Alistair McAuley of Timorous Beasties.
NetJets Europe creates a 6-day event at Art Basel, in a VIP lounge, which includes early viewings of the artwork on display before the exhibition opens to the public. The aviation firm is expecting around 110 flights operating into Basel for the event this year. The NetJets Europe lounge will feature Timorous Beasties designs displayed throughout, along with an offering of bespoke chocolate gifts featuring the moth design, from London-based Chocolatiers, Melt.
The Signature Series Challenger 350 jet is a super-midsize cabin which can accommodate up to ten passengers. NetJets has worked closely with Bombardier, the aircraft manufacturer to completely customise the interior of the aircraft – from the seating and in-flight entertainment through installing Nespresso machines on board. Customers can fly to over 850 airports across Europe and the Middle East with as little as four hours’ notice.
