Japanese Zipair ditching its ‘Russian swastika’ logo

After receiving numerous customer complaints, Japanese budget carrier Zipair announced that it will replace a letter “Z” logo on its aircraft tails with a neutral ‘geometric pattern’.

“We can confirm that we have received a number of customer comments regarding their feelings toward the design of the current livery,” a Zipair spokesman said. “As a public transportation company, we are aware that the letter in question has been shown over various media channels on a global scale and how the design may be conceived in a negative way.”

According to Zipair president, Shingo Nishida, many passengers voiced their anger with airline’s “Z” symbol, which has been seen on Russian military vehicles during Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, and which is currently referred to quite frequently as ‘Russian swastika’.

In March, Ukraine called on countries around the world to stop using the letters Z and V, saying the Roman-alphabet symbols stood for “aggression” after Russia used them during its brutal unprovoked invasion of the neighboring country.

“I think some people might feel that way when they see it without any explanation,” Zipair’s Nishida said at a press conference, announcing the carrier’s logo replacement.

Zipair said will speed up the process rolling out a replacement logo design so as to avoid the impression it was supporting Russia.

The carrier will cover “Z” logo symbols with decals on all of its Boeing-787 Dreamliners starting today and will eventually repaint the aircraft by the spring of 2023.

Zipair was established as JAL’s subsidiary in 2018, but its current “Z” logo was adopted whenthe carrier was named Zipair – to represent speed – in March 2019.

Zipair launched its cargo operations in June 2020 and passenger flights in October that year, after the delays caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Zipair currently flies from Tokyo to Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul and two US destinations – Los Angeles, California and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Zipair is also planning to launch service to San Jose, California in December 2022.

The letter “Z” has been dropped as a logo or branding symbol by many companies around the world due to being seen as an emblem of Russian aggression.

Since the launch of Russian assault on Ukraine, Swiss Zurich Insurance dropped their “Z” branding, South Korean tech giant Samsung has removed the letter from its smartphone models in the Baltic states, while Elle magazine censured its Russian branch for publishing a cover about “Generation Z,” to name a few.