Here's How Much It Costs Airlines To Repaint A Single Plane

If you look in the sky in Japan, you might be able to see Pokémon flying overhead. All Nippon Airways (ANA), one of Japan's two major airlines and one of the safest in the world, has been tapping into flyers' childhood nostalgia with special Pokémon-themed jets adorned with classic characters like Pikachu, Mew, Jigglypuff, and Bulbasaur. The immersion continues inside the plane with Pikachu-adorned headrest covers, Pokémon in-flight safety videos, and Pokéball-patterned flight attendant uniforms. They're all over the aircraft, so there's no need to reserve the best seats to enjoy them.

The incredible Pokémon-themed paint job on the outside of the aircraft is the real selling point to customers, and some Pokémon fans even rearrange their trips to match these special aircraft's schedules. For the airline, which has been painting its planes with Pokémon characters on and off since 1996, providing travelers with the joy of flying alongside their favorite Pokémon doesn't come cheap when you think about how much painting a plane can cost.

Dean Baldwin Painting, a Georgia-based painting company with clients like United Airlines, Delta, and JetBlue, revealed to CNBC that the average cost to paint a plane is between $175,000 and $200,000. This is on par with other estimates shared by other industry insiders online, with some sources saying it costs as much as $300,000 per paint job.

While it might seem like an aesthetic choice, painting an aircraft actually offers more than just cool looks; it's considered regular scheduled maintenance. United Airlines, for example, repaints its planes about every seven to eight years. To determine the cost, painting estimates are given, first and foremost, based on the size of the plane. Design elements, paint type, painting process, and even the number of paint layers are all factored into the final quote.

Airlines can choose to opt for hand-painted elements, which cost more than spray-painting. They can also opt for more layers to protect against corrosion and environmental wear and tear. With flights getting bumpier and bumpier due to climate change, which affects how much stress an aircraft endures during a given flight, airlines will likely have to spend more of their budgets on paint in the future.

In addition to an added layer of protection, an aircraft's paint job also serves as important branding for the airline. When an aircraft is sold or leased to another airline, or when it launches a new campaign, re-painting is a necessary step. It costs more than painting a new plane for the first time because the painting company will need more manhours to remove the first coat of paint before applying the new one. Of course, airlines might not mind spending a pretty penny on a paint job, especially when these planes cost as much as $292 million per unit.