Norwegian Hands Its Tails Over To Young Artists

Out With the Explorers, In With the Crayons

Forget standard corporate logos and predictably bland plane liveries. Norwegian is handing over its most famous piece of real estate to a bunch of kids armed with pencils. This autumn, young passengers flying across Europe can take a sketchpad and try their hand at aviation design. It’s a fun, surprisingly bold pivot for an airline that usually reserves its aircraft tails for dead historical figures.

If you’ve flown Norwegian before, you’ve probably noticed those giant portraits painted on their vertical stabilizers—explorers, actors, scientists, and cultural icons. Now, the carrier is running a continent-wide drawing contest to shake things up. The grand prize isn't some cheap plastic toy or a digital badge you'll forget in five minutes. The winning artwork gets scaled up and painted directly onto an actual jetliner, flying route to route for millions to see.

How a Mid-Flight Doodle Helps UNICEF

There’s a better reason to do this than just a fresh coat of paint, though. Every sketch submitted doubles as a direct donation to UNICEF. It’s a clever trick: convert that inevitable mid-flight boredom into actual humanitarian aid. For parents trying to survive a two-hour flight without screen-time meltdowns, it's a quiet victory—your kid stays occupied, and a good cause gets funded.

You don't have to hunt for loose change in your carry-on or fuss with inflight Wi-Fi to scan a QR code. You just hand the finished drawing to the cabin crew. Norwegian turns that piece of paper into financial support for UNICEF's global programs, making participation effortless for families mid-transit.

Want In? Here’s How It Works

If you're booked on a flight this autumn anywhere between Oslo and the Mediterranean, watch for the drawing materials being handed out down the aisle. The campaign covers the airline's entire European network. Don't worry about artistic technique, either—the judges aren't looking for mini-Monets. They want raw imagination, wild ideas, and that utterly unfiltered way kids see the world.

Think about walking down the jet bridge next year and looking up to see a colorful, kid-drawn masterpiece on the tail of your plane. In an industry dominated by sterile corporate branding, it's a delightfully human move. Hand your kids the paper on your next flight—you might just help design the fleet's next standout feature.