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POCKET-SIZED Aviation history
The company bordbar design GmbH takes apart old aircraft and gives their outer skin a new life as key or luggage tags. Aviationtags are strictly limited-edition, sport their own serial number and aircraft information – and are always unique. Every Aviationtag has performed thousands of take-offs and landings as part of an aircraft’s fuselage before it adopts its final format and embarks on new journeys as a key or luggage tag. To secure the material for Aviationtags, large sections are cut from retired aircraft at aircraft graveyards around the world - including Tucson, Arizona, the Mojave Desert in Death Valley, California, and Rosswell, New Mexico - and shipped to the company's production workshop in Cologne. Here, the old aircraft parts are dismantled by hand, cut, punched out, polished and laser engraved with all the relevant data: Each Aviationtag bears the aircraft type, registration number of the aircraft, edition number, edition size and, where applicable, the airline for which the aircraft once took to the skies. This upcycling process transforms aircraft aluminium into aviation history.
The raw material for these unique collector's items is sourced from airplane models that once served a vast range of different purposes. The more than 85 editions to date feature numerous aircraft with a glorious history: Airbus, Boeing, Douglas or Cessna models that have flown the whole world over, seen the most secret corners of the globe and experienced the greatest adventures. The "Classic Edition" even boasts a Vickers VC10 from the British Royal Air Force, which Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip actually flew in back in the day. More and more moments in aviation history are thus finding their way onto the key chains and suitcases of this world. And whilst people who automatically have a passion for flying - pilots, cabin crew and ground personnel and, of course, aviation enthusiasts - tend to buy entire collections, Aviationtags are also an attractive gadget for people without any special connection to aviation. Quite simply because they tell stories from far off lands, invite you to dream and always remind you that the next adventure is just a plane ticket away. The fact that a one-of-a-kind and beautifully crafted Aviationtag can also help you spot your suitcase on the baggage carousel is a convenient bonus. Since the first Aviationtag crafted from the skin of a Piper PA28 was launched on the market in 2016, more than 100,000 of these unique pieces steeped in history have been sent to more than 120 countries worldwide. Around two new aircraft land at the production workshop in Cologne per month and, dismantled and remade into limited-edition individual pieces, take off from there into a new life. 2019 is no exception, with new airlines and aircraft types continuing to expand the Aviationtag portfolio. Find the full press release and additional information on our press site by clicking here.
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