liveries

WestJet’s Disney planes retiring. But stand by for a new Hello Kitty livery from Eva Air

West Jet will retire the Walt Disney “Frozen” and “Magic Plane” liveries

This week we’ve been poking around for cool airplane liveries and learned from Calgary-based WestJet that the carrier is getting ready to retire the Walt Disney World Resort livery on the popular “Frozen”-themed plane and on the “Magic Plane” that features Sorcerer Mickey on the tail.

According to a WestJet spokesperon, “later this year,” the airline will be repainting these planes to match the existing WestJet fleet.

Good news for Hello Kitty livery fans

If you’re a Hello Kitty fan, there’s some good news.

Tawain-based Eva Air, which currently operates four Hello Kitty-themed jets – Travel Fun, Celebration Flight, Joyful Dream and Shining Star – says it is “working hard to create designs for our next generation Hello Kitty Jets” and will share news about those new special liveries when they’re ready to go.

In the meantime, the carrier says it’s using the four current Hello Kitty jets on flights to Clark (in the Philippines), Bali and Sapporo but not on specific schedules. 

“We are using them just as we operate other aircraft in our fleet. A passenger on one of these routes could end up on an EVA Hello Kitty Jet or on another aircraft.”

 

Alaska’s new Disney livery

(Photo by Ingrid Barrentine, courtesy Alaska Airlines)

Alaska Airlines’ new ‘Mickey’s Toontown’-themed plane

Sure, it’s essentially an ad. But Alaska Airlines’ new Mickey’s Toontown Express livery is charming. And will be fun to spot landing or taking off at an airport near you.

The plane, a Boeing 737-800, with tail number 565AS, has fun images of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, along with their friends Goofy, Pluto, Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck in Mickey’s Toontown at Disneyland Park.

It’s Alaska Airlines’ eighth livery in collaboration with Disneyland Resort and took artists over 400 hours and 20 days to hand-paint the brightly colored aircraft exterior from nose to tail.

Plane paradise for Pokémon Fans

More Pokeman characters are taking to the skies thanks to the Pokémon Company’s “Pokémon Air Adventures” partnership with a variety of airlines to decorate planes with  Pokémon characters – inside and out.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) launched a Pikachu Jet NH on June 4, 2023 and will be launching a second Pokémon themed plane, the Eevee Jet NH, on August 31.

ANA’s Pikachu Jet flies mainly in Asia, to and from Tokyo. The Eevee Jet, a specially painted Boeing 777-300ER, will operate for 5 years and fly between Tokyo Haneda and the US (New York and San Francisco) and between Haneda and London from August 31, 2023 through October 28, 2023. After that, the plane will likely be used on other routes.

Here are some images of the Pikachu jet, along with a ‘behind-the-scenes’ video of it being painted.

And here are some images of the Eevee Jet NH, plus the themed headrests inside the plane.

ANA isn’t the only airline participating in Pokémon Air Adventures. China Airlines, Scoot and several others have special Pikachu planes too.

Alaska Airlines’ new Star Wars-themed airplane

 Alaska Airlines made good use of May the Fourth – Star Wars Day – to unveil a new Star Wars-themed aircraft.

The plane has the iconic Millennium Falcon emblazoned on the tail chased by TIE fighters and is a tie-in with Star WarsGalaxy’s Edge, the newest land of adventure at Disneyland park.

The plane, with a tail number of N538AS, has the Star WarsGalaxy’s Edge and Disneyland Resort logos in the center of the fuselage. And you’ll see porgs, the cute avian creatures that lived on Luke Skywalker’s remote island, on both winglets. Another porg is at the boarding door.

Here’s a cool video showing the plane being painted.

To make this happen, it took 228 gallons of paint applied during 540 work hours over 27 days.

(All photos and video courtesy Alaska Airlines)

Brussels Airlines honors Flemish artist Bruegel with livery

Brussels Airlines has a tradition of honoring Belgian icons on its airplanes.

So far, they’ve painted planes to honor Tintin, Magritte, the Red Devils, Tomorrowland and the Smurfs.

Now, Brussels Airlines has a 6th plane honoring a Belgian icon. This one is inspired by Flemish painter Bruegel the Elder.

Each side of the airplane has a different design and there are images both inside and out.

The Bruegel plane is part of a larger project to promote the Flemish Masters in 2019 and 2020.

To do that, Brussels Airlines and VISITFLANDERS are offering the Hi Belgium Pass: The Flemish Masters Experience. The pass gives visitors the opportunity to fly to Brussels from 48 European cities, take unlimited train rides to Belgian cities and visit a long list of cultural attractions for free, including Flemish Masters exhibitions and collections across Flanders and Brussels.

One bonus attraction: at Brussels Airport there’s an animated art installation at gate A40 that highlights the figures in Bruegel’s art.