Following the collapse of Thomas Cook in 2019 a handful of European airlines along with a raft of stored aircraft were left wearing the now-defunct brand's Sunny Heart livery. Thomas Cook Scandinavia rebranded as Sunclass Airlines whereas Condor took the more conservative step of reverting to its own logo.

However, now two and a half years down the line, the Germans have gone for something a little more striking, or should that be striping? The Frankfurt/Main-based bucket-and-spade specialist has taken inspriation from, unsurprisingly, holidays and has begun painting its aircraft in liveries reminiscent of beach towels, deck chairs, beach balls and parasols.

Five colours, Sunshine (yellow), Passion (red), Sea (blue), Island (green) and Beach (beige), will be applied to Condor's fleet as vertical stripes. Each jet being painted two-tone with white breaking up one of the carrier's signature colours. However, the carrier hasn't ruled out adding more shades to its pallette. Titles have - unusually - been demoted from billboard to a more modest size beneath the cabin windows on the forward fuselage, while the logo remains on the tail, albeit much smaller. It can be argued that due to the striking nature and distinctiveness of the new livery, that the company's name and logo aren't quite as important.

The rebranding will extend to crew uniforms and accessories such as neckerchiefs, ties and pins, while the redesign will extend to the company's website, and on board items such as cups, blankets and cutlery. At the airport, materials on the ground such as boarding passes, ID cards and airport signage in the new colours will also be rolled out.

The new design was unveiled in Toulouse with the unveiling of the carrier's first A330-900 which has yet to receive its Rolls-Royce Trent 7000s and will be accepted by Condor in the autumn.

As early as tomorrow (April 5), aircraft in the new look will be placed into service - Airbus A321ceo, D-AIAD (c/n 6053), which repositioned from Maastricht to Frankfurt earlier today after painting into yellow stripes will fly to Lanzarote at noon. In the upcoming weeks, five more Boeing 757-300s and Airbus A30 Family jets will receive the new colours in readiness for the 2022 summer season. They will most often be rostered on connections to Mallorca, Greece, the Canary Islands and Egypt.

Around 80% of the fleet will wear the new branding by 2024, with the carrier citing that a number of aircraft were already due for repainting. Condor is thus choosing the most sustainable way to redesign its brand identity and fleet.

Ralf Teckentrup, CEO of Condor, commented: "Condor has undergone a transformation over the past two and a half years: From a subsidiary of a vertically integrated travel group to an independent airline that looks back proudly on its history and tradition, while at the same time embarking on the path to the future. We want to express this unmistakably through our corporate identity: Condor is vacation and Condor is unmistakable - like our new design, with which we are now launching into the future. Our new trademark are stripes, our figurative mark stands for our origin and the colors for diversity. This triad is new, what remains is our passion. It has always made Condor unique and is therefore also reflected in our claim: Passion is our compass."