liveries

ANA introduces two new Star Wars planes

Fun Stuff, liveries, , , , ,

ANA NEW 1

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.

ANA Star War image

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”:

EVA’s Hello Kitty jet lands in Houston

Celebrities, liveries, , , , ,

HEllo KITTY ARRIVING

With a great deal of fanfare and classic Hello Kitty cuteness, EVA Air’s brand-new, specially painted Boeing 777-300ER landed at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport on Friday, June 19, 2015, with the carrier’s Chairman KW Chang serving as captain.

EVA AIR CHAIRMAN

Named the Hello Kitty Shining Star Jet, the plane’s livery features Little Twin Stars Kiki and Lala, Hello Kitty and My Melody and is EVA Air’s seventh specially painted aircraft and its second using a long-range Boeing 777-300ER. The plane will fly on EVA Air’s new route between Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental and Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport three times a week. A fourth flight, using a Boeing 777-300ER with standard EVA livery, will be added on July 8, 2015.

Here are a few pictures from the arrival event at IAH Airport. More pictures of the Hello Kitty-themed items on board – and available for purchase on board the airplane – tomorrow on Souvenir Sunday.

EVA HelloKit Shining Star in flight

EVA AIR HELLO KITTY JET – in flight. Courtesy EVA AIR

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More tomorrow…

(All photos by Harriet Baskas, except the plane in flight, which is courtesy EVA AIR)

Star Wars fave R2-D2 will become Dreamliner livery

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ANA Star War image

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.

Hawaiian Air adds art to ground service truck

Art, liveries, ,

As Air New Zealand showed us with its Hobbit-themed planes and Alaska Airlines proved with its Salmon Thirty Salmon planes, airplanes can double as great art pallets.

Alaska Salmon-Thirty-Salmon

Now Hawaiian Airlines is going beyond the airplane livery by having artists paint ground service vehicles.

Hawaiian Airlines truck

To mark the airline’s second anniversary serving the New Zealand market, Hawaiian Airlines had street artists BMD ( who prefer that we don’t see their faces or know their names) paint a ground service truck at Honolulu International Airport with images depicting the landscapes, native animals and cultural backgrounds that are common to both Hawaii and New Zealand.

hawaii air

Here’s a video of the team painting over the previous Hawaiian-themed artwork they put on the truck.

Qantas reveals retro livery

Aviation history, liveries, , ,

Look what’s back:

Qantas-Retro-Livery-.tail

Qantas has reached way back for its first ever “retro” inspired livery, which can now be seen on one of the airline’s brand new Boeing 737 aircraft.

The design is a tribute to 70 years of the airline’s iconic flying kangaroo logo and was unveiled at a special hangar event in Seattle.

qantas retro livery - travola pointing

Qantas Ambassador and aviation enthusiast John Travolta (last seen welcoming the first Qantas A380 that flew from Sydney to Dallas) was on hand to help unveil the aircraft and the new/retro livery, which also brings back the ochre band around the window line of the aircraft, a signature element used from 1971-1984 referencing the colors of the Australian outback.

The winged kangaroo logo on the tail of this new aircraft was adapted from the original 1947 version designed by Gert Sellheim and brings back the wings on the flying kangaroo that were discarded in 1984.Qantas retro livery plane

The 737 will operate across all Qantas domestic routes starting November 20th.

Hello Kitty plane saying bye-bye to LAX

Airlines, Airplanes, liveries, , , ,

EVA HelloKit Hand in Hand Jet runway_CourtesyEVAAIR

Eva Air’s Hello Kitty “Hand-in-Hand” jet that has been flying between Taipei and Los Angeles since 2013 will change routes at the end of October and fly instead between Taipei and Paris.

Eva Airways said the charmingly liveried plane starts the new route  October 29, 2014.

The airline operates a total of four weekly flights between Taipei and Paris and in late October will add the Hello Kitty Hand-in-Hand Jet to the regular schedule as BR87 from Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle (CDG) on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. On the return, it will fly as BR88, CDG-TPE on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

The Hand-in-Hand Hello Kitty jet, which is painted in a livery that features Sanrio characters holding hands along the length of the airplane, and EVA Air’s five Airbus 330 Hello Kitty-themed jets. which fly within Asia, will also be getting some new themed service items , including new some new Hello Kitty-themed meals.

EVA AIR NEW KIDS MEAL - coming this fall

Hello Kitty economy meal

Party for Air New Zealand’s new 787-9

Boeing 787 Dreamliner, liveries, Music, , , ,

Air New Zealand and Boeing had a party Tuesday night at the Future of Flight in Everett, WA in advance of the official physical delivery of the first 787-9 Dreamliner, painted with a striking black livery, scheduled on Wednesday morning July 9.

Here are a few snaps from Tuesday evening’s event, which was attended by special guests and perhaps 1000 of the Boeing employees who worked on the airplane.

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After speeches and gift-giving, curtains opened to reveal black T-shirt clad Boeing employees and – behind the smoke – the new airplane.

ANZ

Here’s a closer look at the tail end of the new plane:

ANZ TAIL

And, for country music fans, here’s a photo of the evening’s surprise entertainment: The Band Perry.

BAND PERRY

More photos tomorrow – when I get to go inside the plane.

Fresh liveries flying to the World Cup

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Airlines are getting pretty darn excited – and creative – about the World Cup and their role in flying fans and teams to the games.

Lufthansa has a ““Fanhansa” livery on more than a half dozen short and long-haul aircraft.

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And Brussels Airlines just sent their Red Devils soccer team to Brazil on a plane that looks like this on the outside.

Brussels plane

And which had turf replacing the carpet on the inside.

BRUSSELS TURF

Back with more World Cup liveries tomorrow. If you’ve spotted one, please share your photos.