"While the lighter weight of a polished [non-painted] plane saves fuel costs, the savings are more than offset by the higher cost of washing, polishing and painting a polished fuselage throughout its service life," says Boeing. The maintenance of polished planes is said to cost S$82,000 more per year than fully painted planes.”

“On average, our aircraft receive new paint jobs every seven years. The first aircraft painted with the new design is a Boeing 737-800, which will be joined by a mix of narrowbody, widebody and regional aircraft with the next livery throughout the year.”