Have you flown on a themed aircraft before?

If so, what themed aircraft have you flown?  I still haven’t flown on a specially themed aircraft yet.  I wouldn’t go out of my way just to fly on a themed jet, but if I would love to fly on one if the routing works out.

One of the more famous themed plane is the Hello Kitty with Eva Air.   Although I had previously flown on Eva Air and kept an eye out for the Hello Kitty possibility, it didn’t quite pan out.  It wasn’t a total loss, either.  I ended up spotting a Hello Kitty plane during transit.  Let’s just say I took my sweet time gawking at the jet, as did a handful of other passengers.

What about a Pokemon Themed Jet?

I am admittedly a huge fan of Pokemon (and Pokemon Go).  When the game first came out, I wondered, “Hey, was there ever a Pokemon themed jet?”   Since Pokemon has been around since the mid-late 1990s, I wasn’t too surprised to find that Pokemon painted jets had existed with Japan’s All Nippon Airways!

These are two sites that I enjoyed, complete with adoring Pokemon jet images.

Sadly, the Pokemon jets with ANA had its run its course.  The contract between ANA and Nintendo ended earlier this year, so we won’t be seeing a Pokemon themed jet anytime soon.

More Fun for Passengers?

Obviously, I can see how most airlines don’t want to invest in a themed jet due to higher costs (i.e. design and licensing fees). However, if airlines could do some strategic marketing tie-in, such as in the case on Air New Zealand and its Hobbit themed plane, it can help to promote the airline and make the ride a lot more interesting.  Even plane spotting at the airport is so much more fun when you can spot a uniquely painted one.

Flying on a themed aircraft is one of those things that’s on my bucket list. Until then, I will just have to live vicariously through other people’s wonderful trip reports!

 

Have you flown on a specially themed plane?  If so, was it a fun experience for you?