Zurich, October 24, 2000 - The first Swissair Airbus A321 in Qualiflyer Group "blue belly" livery entered commercial service on Saturday, October 21. All Qualiflyer Group aircraft will eventually carry the blue belly livery. 

Blue is the official color of the Qualiflyer Group alliance of European airlines and is used wherever the Qualiflyer Group identity needs to be communicated. It is an obvious extension to use this color on aircraft to demonstrate the relationship between each individual carrier and the alliance.

The Qualiflyer Group brand is thereby significantly strengthened without harming the integrity of the individual brands of the alliance partners. The blue belly also serves as an acknowledgement of the alliance's dedication to provide high quality service.  

The Qualiflyer Group is the first alliance to use aircraft to convey the message of the members' commitment to partnership. The livery transformation will be a gradual process, with each airline repainting its aircraft according to their maintenance and overhaul schedule. 

In addition to Swissair and Crossair, the Qualiflyer Group consists of Sabena, TAP Air Portugal, Air Littoral, AOM, Volare, Air Europe, LOT Polish Airlines and Turkish Airlines. The Qualiflyer Group alliance, founded in 1998, serves more than 300 destinations from hubs in Zurich, Brussels, Lisbon, Istanbul, Paris Orly, Basel, Nice, Milan and Warsaw. The broad-based route network and many frequencies guarantee Qualiflyer Group customers quick connections and short transfer times.