ANA’s Star Wars themed 787-9 has rolled out of the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington State.
The R2-D2 Dreamliner, registration JA873A, is the first of three aircraft to be decorated with characters from the Star Wars movie franchise.
“Today the time has come to bring the ANA Star Wars project to life and we hope Star Wars fans across the world will be as excited about our R2-D2 ANA Jet as we are,” ANA senior vice president for the Americas Hideki Kunugi said in a statement.
“At ANA we’re always looking for ways to improve the flying experience for our passengers, and what better way to start your trip to Asia than on a one-of-a-kind Star Wars plane?”
The first revenue flight with the R2-D2 jet is scheduled for October 18 as NH116 from Tokyo to Vancouver.
The Star Alliance member also plans to operate the 787-9 to the US (Seattle and San Jose), Europe (Munich, Paris and Brussels), Australia (Sydney), China (Beijing), and Indonesia (Jakarta).
ANA has also furnished the cabin with Star Wars themed headrest covers, paper napkins and cups and loaded all six currently released Star Wars films for the 215 passengers to enjoy.
A Boeing 767-300 featuring BB-8, a brand new character from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and a Boeing 777-300ER with R2-D2 will also be unveiled later in 2015 and in early 2016.
“The Boeing Company is truly honoured that ANA has selected the new 787-9 Dreamliner to showcase this wonderful new livery,” Boeing Commercial Airplanes senior vice president for Northeast Asia sales and marketing Ihssane Mounir said in a statement.
The Japanese flag carrier announced in July plans to resume flights to Sydney from December.
