5 Airlines & Manufacturers With The Coolest Avgeek Merch

5 Airlines & Manufacturers With The Coolest Avgeek Merch

Depending on where you live, you will probably have an airline you fly with more often than others. If you are an aviation geek like us here at Simple Flying, you may feel having aviation-themed apparel, merchandise, and a model aircraft or two is fantastic. The trouble is knowing how you can get your hands on it. So, with that in mind, we have listed five of our favorite places to buy aviation-themed items below.

The Boeing store

Future of Flight 8415 Paine Field Boulevard, Mukilteo, WA 98275. Store Hours: Thu–Mon | 8:30am–5:00pm

Regarding aviation-inspired merchandise, collectibles, gifts, toys, men’s and women’s apparel, and travel gear, you need help finding something better than Boeing. For more than 100 years, the Seattle plane maker has been manufacturing aircraft that have changed history and lives. Founded in 1916 by lumber baron William E. Boeing, the company began building seaplanes, which by 1936 had developed to become the plane that linked the world, the Model 314 Clipper Flying Boat.

In WWII, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress dropped more bombs on the enemy than any other aircraft. On August 6, 1945, a modified Boeing B-29 Superfortress named Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, effectively ending the war. After World War II, Boeing changed how the world traveled by introducing the four-jet engine Boeing 707 in 1958. In 1970, Pan American Airways (PAN Am) introduced the world to its Boeing 747, a much-loved aircraft still in service with some airlines today.

The first Boeing store selling company merchandise was opened at Boeing Field in Everett, Washington, in 2006 and today has grown by two more stores in Chicago and St Louis. Don’t worry if you cannot visit the stores, as Boeing merchandise is available online at https://www.boeingstore.com/.

Let’s Shop Airbus

Aéroport de Toulouse Blagnac, 31700 Toulouse and Travel destination Globetrotter travel agency in the Airbus Periport, Kreetslag 7, 21129 Hamburg, Germany

Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10:00 – 17:00

Saturdays 30 minutes before the factory tour

Website: https://airbus-shop.com/

Airbus was created in 1970 by French and German aerospace companies to compete with American aircraft manufacturers. The company’s first commercial airliner, the Airbus A300, entered service with Air France in 1974.

Today, Airbus is one of the world’s largest plane makers, producing various extremely successful commercial airliners. Items for sale in the Airbus shops and available for purchase online include the following:

• Scale models of Airbus aircraft and helicopters
• A large variety of men’s and women’s Airbus-themed clothing
• Airbus merchandise like coffee mugs, office accessories, and computer products.
• Travel accessories like suitcases, backpacks, luggage tags, universal electrical socket adapters, power banks, and even umbrellas

Emirates

In the early 1980s, Dubai’s ruler, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, wanted to start an airline to help connect the Gulf State nation to the rest of the world. With the help of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Emirates began operations with two planes. During the 1990s, many of the world’s airlines restricted Middle Eastern flights due to the Gulf War, but not Emirates, who picked up the slack and continued to grow. By the early 2000s, Emirates was a global player, establishing Dubai International Airport (DXB) as a transport hub linking Europe to Asia.

The airline expanded its footprint further with flights to North America, giving people traveling from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia an alternative to flying through big European airports like Frankfurt, London, and Paris.

With its fleet of 119 Airbus A380s and 123 Boeing 777-300ERs, Emirates has become a global airline and a favorite when selecting long-haul travel. If you like flying with Emirates or are a fan of the superjumbo, you can buy Emirates merchandise and apparel at any of several locations in Dubai:

• The Emirates Group Headquarters, Al Garhoud, located opposite Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport (DXB). Open Monday-Friday 07:30-17:00 Saturday-Sunday 09:00-17:00
• Emirates Group Technology Center, Deira 785J+C5V – Al Khabaisi – Dubai open Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00.
• dnata Travel Center, Dnata Building Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. Open Monday-Friday 09:00-17:00
• Emirates World, Town Center Jumeirah Beach Road 8B. Open Monday-Sunday 10:00-21:00.
• Dubai International (DXB) Terminal 3 (Concourse A & B)
• Dubai Mall (Kidzania, At The Top, Dubai Aquarium & Emirates A380 Experience Flight Simulator.

Official Emirates merchandise can also be purchased online at

https://www.emirates.store/

Alaska Airlines and Harbour Air.

While American Airlines sells great-looking Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner USB sticks and Delta Air Lines has clothes with retro logos, our favorite American carrier store is run by Alaska Airlines.

Perhaps inspired by the fact that Boeing sells plenty of aviation-themed merchandise, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)-based Alaska Airlines opened a store it calls “The Hub” opposite its company headquarters. Housed in a gleaming new six-story building complete with a Starbucks on the first floor, the retail store is just a mile from Seattle Airport. In the Alaska Airlines store, you will find a wide array of aviation-themed goods that reflect the carrier itself and North America’s largest seaplane operator, Harbour Air.

If you know Alaska Airlines, you will be familiar with some of its marketing stunts. Being close to Canada, Seattle has always had a love affair with ice hockey. The Seattle Metropolitans became the first American team to win the Stanley Cup when they defeated the Montreal Canadiens in 1917. Sadly, the franchise folded in 1924, leaving the city without a professional ice hockey team until 2021. When it was announced that the National Hockey League (NHL) was bringing a team to Seattle that would later be called the “Seattle Kraken,” Alaska Airlines promised that for the team’s first season, anyone wearing a Seattle Kraken jersey would get priority boarding!

Our favorite promotion that Alaska Airlines has been running every Christmas season is to give anyone wearing an ugly or festive sweater priority boarding. In the Alaska Airlines store, you will find Alaska Airlines holiday sweaters. Looking a bit like the Faroe Islands sweater that Sarah Lund wore in the Scandi drama The Killing (Forbrydelsen), as you can see in the above photo, it would make the perfect gift.

Located at 19235 International Blvd in Seattle, the Alaska Airlines Hub store is open Monday-Friday 09:30-17:00. If you are not planning to visit the store, you can purchase Alaska Airlines merchandise online at http://companystore.alaskaair.com/

KLM

While Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, SAS, and Finnair all sell aviation-themed merchandise, our favorite European airline for shopping is the Netherlands national flag carrier KLM. Founded in 1919, the world’s oldest airline sells the usual aviation-themed items but also sells something that has become highly collectible.

In 1952, KLM decided to hand out miniature Delft white and blue ceramic houses filled with Bols Jenever gin. Modeled after merchant houses on Amsterdam’s canals, the tiny houses soon became a collector’s item. Only manufactured for KLM in small numbers, the airline releases a new Delft house on its birthday (October 7). To get one, you must fly in business class on a long-haul international route or visit the KLMHouses Store at Meander 181-183, 1181 WN Amstelveen. The store is only open on Thursdays between 10:30 and 17:00, and to get access, you need to phone ahead. Tel- +31 653150292. Alternatively, you can purchase them online at https://www.klmhouses.com/