Next time you board a flight on Solaseed Air (6J), it may be the latest Pokemon-themed aircraft. The Japanese regional airline is taking to the sky with its latest Boeing 737-800 featuring the Exeggutor. Taking off from Japan’s Miyazaki Prefecture, the themed aircraft will take flight in March.
The aircraft will feature Exeggutor and Alolan Exeggutor designs on the exterior fuselage. However, once onboard, the fun will follow. Exeggutor-themed headrests, flight attendants wearing Exeggutor-themed aprons, and even Exeggutor-themed paper cups will all be part of the airline’s latest Pokemon experience. The airline plans to operate the themed aircraft for three years.
Photo: Solaseed Air
JA803X
The ten-year-old Boeing 737-800 (registration JA803X) will feature the latest Pokemon design and joined the fleet in 2012. The lucky aircraft is part of a partnership between the Miyazaki prefecture and the Pokemon Company.
Various Pokemon characters painted on the fuselage will include “Nassy,” or Exeggutor, and “Alola Nassy,” or Alolan Exeggutor, both identified as “Miyazaki-loving” characters. JA803X will see sun, waves, and bougainvillea flower images, reminding those of the prefecture’s tropical environment.
Pokemon themed aircraft
Pokemon flying in the sky dates back to 1998 with All Nippon Airways (NH) when the airline launched a Boeing 747 and two Boeing 767-themed aircraft. Treasured globally was the “Pikachu Jumbo” (registration JA8957), which took off in 2004. After nine years of service, the aircraft was retired in 2013, upsetting its many loyal fans.
Solaseed Air
The regional airline commenced operations in July 1997 as Pan Asia Airlines, eventually renamed Solaseed Air in July 2011. Operating from two bases at Naha Airport (OKA) and Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND), the airline has a fleet of 14 Boeing 737-800.
It’s not the first time the airline has featured a Pokémon-themed livery. In 2020, a Boeing 737-800 featuring Exeggutor was flying as part of a tourism collaboration with Miyazaki City and The Pokémon Company. On December 19, 2020, the airline’s maiden Pokemon flight was from Miyazaki City to Tokyo’s Haneda airport. This livery has since been retired since September 2022.
Photo: Solaseed Air
Solaseed’s network in Japan
Solaseed Air has a modest route map, operating throughout the Japanese provinces of Honshu, Kyushu, and the Ryukyu Islands. Passengers looking to travel on the latest Pokemon aircraft will need to look at a flight between these cities:
Honshu:
- Kobe Airport (UKB)
- Chubu Centrair International Airport (NGO)
- Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND)
Kyushu:
- Fukuoka Airport (FUK)
- Kagoshima Airport (KOJ)
- Kumamoto Airport (KMJ)
- Miyazaki Bougainvillea Airport (KMI)
- Nagasaki Airport (NGS)
Ryukyu Islands:
- New Ishigaki Airport (ISG)
- Naha Airport (OKA)
Photo: Solaseed Air
Operating just the Boeing 737-800
Operating the Boeing 737-800 solely, its fleet of fourteen aircraft (of which one is leased from All Nippon Airlines) is between four and eleven years old. Plane spotters can keep a keen eye on the below registrations and predict which aircraft may be next to feature Pikachu.
(JA67AN, JA801X, JA802X, JA803X, JA804X, JA805X, JA806X, JA807X, JA808X, JA809X, JA810X, JA811X, JA812X, JA813X)
Sources: CNN, Arab News, Game Rant, Gamersnack
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Tokyo Haneda Airport
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- HND/RJTT
- Country:
- Japan
- CEO:
- Isao Takashiro
- Passenger Count :
- 442,573 (2020)
- Runways :
- 16R/34L – 3,000m (9,843ft) |16L/34R – 3,360m (11,024ft) |04/22 – 2,500m (8,202ft) |05/23 – 2,500m (8,202ft)
- Terminals:
- Terminal 1 |Terminal 2 |Terminal 3
Source: simpleflying.com
