Airbus's first A350F freighter now flies in a livery designed by the public, wrapping the fuselage in a parcel motif that reflects the cargo the aircraft carries. The design came from graphic designer John Feehan of Dublin and brothers Quinnten and Ellisten Iversen of Calgary, winners of an open competition that drew more than 4,000 entries. Their two submissions were merged by Airbus's corporate design team into a single livery, unveiled with the winners at the Paris Air Show in June 2023, and the winners' names are painted on the fuselage of the first A350F.
The competition ran from September 12 to November 28, 2022, and Airbus handed the first A350F's livery to the public rather than assigning it in-house. Feehan entered at the encouragement of his aviation-loving son, while Quinnten, then 16, and Ellisten, then 12, developed their concept together in Calgary. Quinnten, a student pilot at the time of entry, has since earned a commercial pilot's licence, while Ellisten shifted his school focus toward engineering with aerospace in mind.
In 2026 the merged design became paint on an aircraft, flying on the first A350F as it works through its flight-test campaign toward certification. The A350F, launched in 2021 as the freighter member of the A350 family, offers a 111-tonne payload, capacity for 42 pallets and a range of up to 4,700 nautical miles.