Low-cost carrier Norwegian has announced it will honour eight British women as part of its ‘Tail Fin Heroes’ livery series for International Women’s Day.
Since the airline launched in 2002, it has adorned its aircrafts’ tail fins with iconic figures. Current British female tail fin personalities include Amy Johnson and Jane Austen.
It also has five fins honouring British men such as children’s author Roald Dahl, footballer Bobby Moore, musician Freddie Mercury, aviation legend Sir Freddie Laker and explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.
The eight additional British women to be honoured will bring Norwegian’s female Tail Fin Heroes count to ten and include:
- Mathematician Ada Lovelace, widely regarded as the first computer programmer thanks to her work on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine in the 1840s
- Writer Charlotte Bronte, author of Jane Eyre, Shirley, The Professor and Villette
- Civil rights activist Emmeline Pankhurst, who campaigned for women to gain the right to vote
- Medical pioneer Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing who cared for wounded soldiers during the Crimean War
- Sportswoman Lottie Dod, who won the Wimbledon Ladies’ Single Championship five times, along with the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship and a silver medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics for archery
- Medical pioneer Mary Seacole, a British-Jamaican nurse who also served in the Crimean War despite being rejected by the War Office and set up the “British Hotel” for sick and wounded soldiers
- Scientist Rosalind Franklin, whose contribution to the understanding of DNA, RNA and viruses went largely unrecognised until after her death in 1958
- Writer Virginia Woolf, author of Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and The Waves, and regarded as one of the most influential 20th-century writers.
The tail fins will be released throughout this year.
Anne-Sissel Skanvik, chief communications officer at Norwegian, said: “Our tail fin heroes celebrate those who have been admired for their accomplishments, as pioneers in their field and inspired future generations. We are proud to increase the number of female British tail fin heroes in our fleet to ten. It is a huge honour to have these renowned women adorn our aircraft and to pay tribute to some of the greatest British women of all time.”
norwegian.com