Alaska Airlines has unveiled the world’s largest flying fish a couple of days ago in Anchorage, Alaska.

Coming in at over 41 tonnes and almost 40 metres long, the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, dubbed “Salmon-Thirty-Salmon II” is an updated version of one of the most iconic promotion aircraft liveries ever designed.

The design has come about through a partnership with the Alaskan Seafood Marketing Group, aiming to highlight the sustainable fishing in the pristine waters of the Alaskan coasts and rivers. It also helps that Alaskan Airlines transports vast quantities of salmon to airports (and sushi bars) around the United States and Canada. A similar design was used on a smaller Boeing 747-400 aircraft until last year.

Alaska Airlines says the new Salmon-Thirty-Salmon is the most intricately painted aircraft in the world, and I don’t doubt them. There are 125 different colours used on the plane, as well as over 3400 intricate fish scales, which took a team of 8 painters 27 days to complete. The plane was then covered in a reflective Mylar paint to add depth and shimmer to the the fish.

The airline is no stranger to promotional liveries, it has three Disneyland planes (one in conjuction with the Make-A-Wish Foundation), one called Spirit of Seattle, highlighting the companies long standing relationship with Boeing, and a personal favourite is the Starliner 75, a retrojet design celebrating their 75th anniversary. The Eskimo on the tail has even donned a lei when the airline announced they were flying to Hawaii.

Alaska’s sister carrier Horizon Air frequently decks out their Bombardier Q400s in the colours of local universities. You can check out the other designs via the website here.