ANA continues the tradition of branding its aircraft based on commercial partnerships and will soon fly an aircraft in Pikachu livery.
Asia has been slower than the rest of the world to revive its travel industry and air travel, but is now scrambling to get passengers back in the air.
A partnership with The Pokemon Company
Japan’s ANA airline has joined a program from The Pokemon Company aimed at attracting young travelers into the air.
As the aviation and travel industry was damaged and neglected during the pandemic, Pokemon launched the Pokemon Air Adventures program to encourage people, especially young people, to travel again and see the world.
ANA is the fifth airline to join the program after Scoot (Singapore), T’way Air (South Korea), China Airlines (Taiwan) and Skymark Airlines (Japan).
The airlines participating in the program offer a variety of Pokemon experiences throughout the journey. Specific deliveries for aircraft, boarding kiosks with specific design, boarding passes and baggage tags with special branding, snacks … are all initiatives of the airlines already members of the program.
ANA’s Pikachu Jet NH
ANA presented the livery of the “Pikachu Jet NH” (NH in reference to the code of the airline, to differentiate it from the other participating airlines), a Boeing 787 which will fly from next June 4th.
That’s all that’s known at the moment about what ANA plans to do with the partnership, with further details to be revealed over time.
But if we rely on the dedicated page set up by the airline we can expect :
– A specific cabin design
– Specific souvenirs
– Specific products and goodies to buy
– In-flight video content such as Pokémon Kids TV and POKÉTOON
Where to see the ANA Pikachu Jet ?
This type of collaboration is not new. ANA or United had already collaborated with Star Wars, but the most famous example in this respect are the Hello Kitty aircrafts from Eva Air with their distinctive livery, a specially designed cabin, special staff outfits, rosé champagne served on board and a whole range of co-branded products for purchase.
Whether you’re a fan of the concept or not, Hello Kitty aircraft are always a big hit in the airports they pass through and some passengers would even like to try the experience on board at least once.
But while Hello Kitty’s travel the world, it will be difficult to see the Pikachu Jet if you don’t go to Asia or North America. The aircraft will fly to the following airports from Tokyo Haneda: Manila, Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh, Delhi, Sydney, Vancouver and Honolulu.
Bottom line
ANA is joining the Pokemon Air Adventure program and will fly a B787 Pikachu mainly in Asia. Let’s wait and see if the rest of the special things planned as part of this partnership will be as extreme as what Eva Air did with Hello Kitty.
