All Nippon Airways

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.

ANA’s 1st A380 looks like a turtle

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is celebrating the rollout of its first Airbus A380 from the Airbus Paintshop in Hamburg, Germany.  And the plane is pretty darn cute. 

The new plane sports a paint job featuring the Hawaiian green sea turtle, known as “Honu.” The turtle not only makes a cute livery, it has special meaning: in the Hawaiian language, the sea turtle symbolizes good luck and prosperity.

ANA is scheduled to receive this new A380 jet, nicknamed FLYING HONU, in March 2019. The plane’s inaugural flight is scheduled to leave from Tokyo Narita Airport and travel to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu on May 24, 2019.

ANA is set to get three Airbus A380s and each will feature livery in different colors and with different designs.

The blue livery of the Flying Honu, the first aircraft, links ANA’s corporate color scheme with Hawaii’s blue skies.

The second aircraft is expected to begin operating in July 2019 and it will have emerald green livery inspired by the  waters of Hawaii. 

The third A380 will be orange, in reference to the beautiful Hawaiian sunset.

“The Airbus A380 will be an important addition to ANA’s current fleet and it will allow passengers to reach the scenic islands of Hawaii in comfort and style,” said Yutaka Ito, ANA’s Executive Vice President. “The customized livery adds a personal touch that will make the trip that much more memorable,” he added. 

Painted planes: a sea turtle for ANA; Bad Badtz-Maru for Eva Air

 

Japan’s All Nippon Airways – ANA – is getting its first Airbus A380 and will introduce it on the  Tokyo-Honolulu route starting spring 2019.  When it does, the plane will be painted to look like an endangered  Hawaiian green sea turtle (‘Honu’ in Hawaiian) – which is a symbol of luck and prosperity.

The “FLYING HONU” design was chosen from more than 2,000 contest submissions and the winner received a pair of round-trip business class tickets between Tokyo and Honolulu.

In announcing the special livery, ANA said it will also be supporting activities in Hawaii to protect the Hawaiian green sea turtle and will introduce yet-to-be-finalized new passengers services for the plane and the route.

 

Meanwhile, earlier this month EVA Air launched a new “Travel Fun” Sanrio character-jet adorned with the character Bad Badtz-Maru that will be flying on the Taipei-Fukuoka and Taipei-Seoul routes.

The Airbus A330-300 is the first to fly internationally with a Bad Badtz-Maru livery and shows a vacation-ready Bad Badtz-Maru and some of his friends, along with hats, a camera, snacks and other items.

 

ANA’s app for anxious airline passengers

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?

New favorite airline amenity: ANA aroma cards

I’m joining ANA – All Nippon Airways – in Tokyo for two days (yes, just two days!) for the opening of the new International Terminal at Haneda Airport.

Opening of International Terminal at Haneda Airport

Spotted in Domestic Terminal at Haneda October 20,2010

I’ll have lots to share shortly about the planetarium and other intriguing amenities at this new terminal, but in the meantime I wanted to share my favorite in-flight amenity from the ANA flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo.

The airline has two versions of these Sleep Support “aroma” cards, one called Relax, which emits a lavender aroma when you press “Push” and another called Refresh, which features “ANA Original Aroma.”

ANA aroma cards

ANA Sleep Support aroma cards

I requested extras so will award this to StuckatTheAirport.com readers who send along great Souvenir Sunday photos.