Dubai: UAE-based Emirates airline had avid flyers excited after an image of one of its aircraft went viral in social media.
The much talked-about post, which the carrier itself shared on its official Twitter page on Wednesday, shows a Boeing 777 plane encrusted with what look like crystals and diamonds.
The jazzed-up aircraft is shown parked at a terminal in an airport, surrounded by luggage trucks and glittering in the sunset.
“Presenting the Emirates ‘Bling’ 777,” the caption reads.
The image was shared by Emirates on its official Twitter account, but it was originally posted on Instagram last Tuesday by Sara Shakeel, a crystal artist. The first post had more than 47,000 likes on Instagram alone as of 2:30pm.
The aircraft in the image looks so real that it stirred a lot of curiosity among social media users, especially those who love the idea of flying in luxury and style.
“That’s my kind of plane,” exclaimed one Instagram user.
“It’s raining diamonds,” said a user on Twitter. “Rappers are going to have a field day with this one,” said another one.
Contacted by Gulf News, an Emirates spokesperson clarified that Emirates didn’t have one of its planes covered in bling.
“We just posted an art piece made by crystal artist Sara Shakeel,” said the spokesperson.
“I can confirm it’s not [real].”
Shakeel is a Pakistani dentist-turned-artist with close to 500,000 followers. Her Instagram page is peppered with digitally-altered images jazzed up in crystals and diamonds.
By adding glitter to just about anything, from a Starbucks cup to a piece of burger, or the New York skyline, Shakeel turns the mundane into extraordinary and get her followers mesmerized.
“I add crystals and diamonds to the most ordinary objects of everyday life,” she once told Forbes in an interview.
