ANA

Travel tidbits from United, Alaska, SEA & R2D2

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Tech glitch hits United Airlines Wednesday night

Big headaches Wednesday night for United Airlines and its passengers due to a major system outage that led to widespread delays and ground stops across the country.

The airline said the issue was related to a technology glitch.

The issue was resolved late in the evening, but it may take days for all travelers on delayed and canceled flights to get to their destinations.

Alaska Airlines announces new flights and a new livery

Alaska Airlines is making news left and right. This week, the carrier announced new routes to London and Reykjavik from Seattle starting in Spring 2026, adding to previously announced new service to Rome, also set to begin in Spring 2026.

The airline also unveiled a new livery for its 787-9 aircraft and announced that by Spring all Dreamliners in its fleet will be flying with this new design.

Already, there’s debate over the new livery.

Some people love it. But others are disappointed because the smiling face of the Inuk man known as “Chester” – which has been a staple on the tail of Alaska Airlines’ aircraft for years – is nowhere to be seen.

What do you think?

Sweet pre-security treats at SEA Airport

There used to be a couple of vending machiens filled with fun and unusual Asian treats in the waiting area outside international arrivals at Seattle-Tacome International Airport.

An equally cool – maybe cooler – concession has taken its place.

All Nippon Airways – ANA – retires its R2-D2 Start Wars livery

ANA (All Nippon Airways) introduced a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with an R2-D2 livery back in September 2015.

After delighting fans and planespottsers with this livery for almost 10 years, the livery was retired on August 6.

Polly want a first class ticket?

We’re hoping this parrot that landed at Dublin Airport has been reunited wiht its family.

ANA joins with Pokémon in new safety video

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Star Alliance member All Nippon Airways (ANA) and The Pokémon Company have teamed up to make Pokémon-themed in-flight safety and disembarkation videos that are running now on ANA’s Pikachu Jet NH, a Boeing 787-9 aircraft, and Evee Jet NH, a Boeing 777.

The videos feature a charming assortment of familiar Pokémon characters helping the flight crew guide passengers through the safety instructions.

Take a look.

Here’s ANA’s disembarkation video. Also with the Pokémon theme.

And here are the two jets in the ‘set’ that that will are running these videos:

Plane paradise for Pokémon Fans

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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

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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. 

You can’t win if you don’t play: July edition

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Here are few travel-related contests to consider entering. Because you can’t win if you don’t play.

ANA (All Nippon Airways) and XPRIZE  joined forces for the Seat 14C  project, which is a mix of a science fiction anthology and a writing competition set 20 years in the future.

Storytellers are invited to submit stories imagining the year 2037 when an ANA flight from Tokyo to San Francisco mysteriously lands in the future.

Stories must be 2000 to 4000 words and sent in by 11:59 Pacific Time on August 25, 2017.  More story requirements and tips for the contest are here. The $10,000 prize package includes round trip airfare to Tokyo for two, four nights in a four-star hotel, $1,500 in spending money and more.

Win a million Star Alliance points

To celebrate 20 years of “Connecting People and Cultures” Star Alliance and its 28 member carriers are inviting customers to enter a contest to win one million frequent flyer miles.

The deadline to enter is July 31, 2017 and 21 winners – one for each participating frequent flyer program – will be announced on September 28, 2017.

20 out of the 21 participating frequent flyer programs are offering miles (or mile equivalents) . SAS’s EuroBonus Programme is offering flight tickets instead of miles.

To enter you’ll need to be a member of one of the member carrier’s frequent flyer programs. Then, upload a profile picture and an image of a favorite cultural experience and describe where it was and what made it so special. More details here.

SkyTeam contest for a round-the-world trip

SkyTeam is celebrating 17 years as an airline alliance with a contest offering two round-the-world tickets as a prizes.

To enter, take a short quiz about your travel style and watch a short video from a web series of ten short films following ‘celebrity’ frequent flyers.  Contest ends July 13, 2017. More info here.

Good luck!