The unveiling happened yesterday in Everett, Washington, with a full fleet of sharply-dressed “soldiers” present to reveal the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Japan’s All Nippon Airways. To participate, fans will have to follow instructions on how to win tickets, but all winners are required to be dressed in Star Wars costumes during the flight, a.k.a. cosplay.
Advertisement
On October 18, the R2-D2 ANA Jet is scheduled to go into service on global routes, initially as flight NH116 between Tokyo and Vancouver, and then fly between Japan and other cities in ANA’s robust worldwide network including the USA (Seattle and San Jose), Europe (Munich, Paris and Brussels), Australia (Sydney), China (Beijing), and Indonesia (Jakarta). “We’re proud of the innovative R2-D2 design, and we look forward to witnessing the first-ever flight of a passenger aircraft featuring a Star Wars character”.
How do you like this lofty tribute to the famous astromech droid?
As TravelPulse’s Rich Thomaselli wrote in April, All Nippon and Boeing originally announced the new plane as part of a five-year partnership Disney and the airline, dubbed ANA’s “Star Wars” Project. The other two will feature a BB-8 design on a Boeing 777-300ER and both of the droids together on a Boing 767-300. The jet will boast one of the world’s most interesting airline paint schemes when it begins flying next month.
Passengers will also be able to enjoy all six of the Star Wars films – the first time they have been included as part of an in-flight entertainment system.
Boeing unveiled its latest Dreamliner, and the jet is certainly out of this world. The next jet to take to the air will include domestic Japanese routes starting in November, and the final BB-8 will be out in March of 2016.
Advertisement
The rollout of the plane is just in time for the hype building up to the showing of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” on December. 18.
