The Shanghai Museum and China Eastern Air Holding Co Ltd unveiled a wide-body aircraft with a themed coating of ancient Chinese arts on Wednesday.

The themed jet is painted on the outside with the name and logo of the Shanghai Museum, integrating classic elements of ancient Chinese art and signature bronze collections of the museum. 

In addition, the interior of the cabin is decorated with bronze images and elements in its tray tables and overhead bins, presenting passengers onboard an immersive experience of enjoying ancient Chinese relics in the air. 

The special themed aircraft will become the world's first museum in the air to fly across the world, mainly operating international long-haul flights destined to Europe and the US, while flying between major destinations both home and abroad. 

China Eastern has been optimizing its global network in the past few years by launching routes between Shanghai and international destinations including Egyptian capital Cairo, Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, Marseille of France, Venice of Italy, Kazan of Russia, Casablanca of Morocco, among others, contributing to Shanghai's global connectivity as an international hub. 

The Shanghai-based carrier launched direct flight between Shanghai and Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ahead of the May Day holiday, and unveiled plans to open new flights to more international destinations including Geneva in Switzerland, Milan in Italy, Copenhagen in Denmark, Barcelona in Spain, Casablanca in Morocco, Almaty in Kazakhstan, Tashkent in Uzbekistan and Kumamoto in Japan. 

Contact the writer at wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn