With R2-D2, C-3PO and the Star Wars Stormtroopers on hand, on Saturday Boeing and Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) showed off the carrier’s R2-D2-themed jet at the Boeing Everett Factory north of Seattle.
Courtesy Boeing.
Courtesy Boeing
The cool design features aren’t just on the outside. Inside the plane there will be Star Wars-themed service items as well, including paper cups and headrest covers.
What fun!
Japan’s ANA airlines will soon have two new Star Wars planes, decorated with BB-8, a brand new character from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and with our old friend, R2-D2. The new designs are part of an agreement with The Walt Disney Company (Japan) and will be in addition to the previously announced R2-D2 ANA Jet, which is scheduled to go into service on October 18, 2015.
The new BB-8 ANA Jet, will be a Boeing 777-300ER. The new Star Wars ANA Jet, which will be decorated with both BB-8 and R2-D2 on the outside, is a Boeing 767-300. The previously announced R2-D2 jet is a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
The decorations won’t just be on the outside. Like EVA Air’s Hello Kitty jets, ANA’s Star War-themed jets will have headrest covers, paper napkins and cups, and no doubt other in-flight service item (Star Wars toilet paper, please…) featuring Star Wars characters.
The airline also announcing that it will now offer all six of the currently released Star Wars films as part of the in-flight entertainment options on international routes.
All three Star Wars Jets will fly international and domestic routes. The R2-D2 ANA Jet is scheduled to go into service on international routes on October 18, starting as flight NH116 between Tokyo and Vancouver, and then fly between Japan and other cities, including Seattle and San Jose, Munich, Paris and Brussels, Sydney, Beijing and Jakarta.
In November, the Star Wars ANA Jet will begin flying domestic Japanese routes, with the BB-8 jet starting international routes, between Japan and North America in March 2016.
Here’s a link to ANA’s fun website site with all things Star Wars and a video of the jets “in action”:
https://youtu.be/NOQ6qaLPJps
Move over Hello Kitty, R2-D2 is coming to the skies.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced that the adorable rolling Star Wars robot character will be painted on a new 787-9 Dreamliner as part of a five year agreement with the Walt Disney Company. You’ll need to wait until next fall to see the livery flying on international flights, but here’s a short video of what it should look like.
Can’t wait for Star Wars: The Force Awakens to hit the theaters? There’s a preview here.
Anxious about flying?
ANA (All Nippon Airways) has an app for you.
Released just in time for the holidays, when people find flying even more stressful than usual, the ‘ANA Takeoff Mode’ app offers fliers a simple, distracting puzzle (users must maneuver a ball on screen to collect points), along with relaxing music.
Designed to be used during take-off, when anxious fliers are often the most fearful – and when passengers are now allowed to keep their electronic devices turned on (officially) – the app somehow also measures the amplitude and frequency response of the ambient noise inside the aircraft cabin and, when the aircraft’s engines are at full throttle during takeoff, a special animation and message is triggered.
Would you find this useful?
ANA (All Nippon Airlines) was founded in 1952 and to celebrate its 60th anniversary the Japanese airline held a contest to design a special anniversary aircraft livery.
Passengers and airline employees were invited to vote for one of nine short-listed entries chosen from a whopping 7,042 entries and the design shown on the model below was chosen as the winner.
The design has been painted onto one of ANA’s 767-300 aircraft operating on domestic routes and is being unveiled in Japan on Saturday.