All Nippon Airways (ANA) today unveiled two new Star Wars-themed special liveries. The two new liveries will join the earlier announced R2-D2 livery on ANA planes this fall.
In addition to the Boeing 787 that ANA will paint in an R2-D2 livery, they will also paint a Boeing 777-300ER as the new droid BB-8 and a Boeing 767-300 with R2-D2 on one side and BB-8 on the other.
787—R2-D2
The 787 will debut on the Tokyo-Vancouver route as flight NH116 on 18 October 2015. The R2-D2 jet will then make its way to other international ANA destinations including Seattle and San Jose in the United States; Munich, Paris and Brussels in Europe; Sydney, Australia; Beijing, China; and Jakarta, Indonesia.
UPDATE
ANA will host a live webcast as JA873A is rolled out of the paint hangar in Seattle on Saturday, 12 September at 09:00 PDT (16:00 UTC). The webcast can be viewed on ANA’s Star Wars site.
ANA has also released further route information for the R2-D2 787. All routes and dates are tentative.
Mid-October to Late-November: Narita—San Jose (NH172)
Early-December: Narita—Seattle (NH178)
Mid-December and beyond: Haneda—Sydney (NH879), Haneda—Jakarta (NH855), Haneda—Beijing, Haneda—Munich (NH217), Haneda—Paris (NH215)
767-300—R2-D2 & BB-8
In November 2015, the Star Wars-themed 767-300 will fly domestic Japanese routes. Specific routes are still to be announced.
UPDATE
The Star Wars-themed 767-300 is now painted. Here’s a first look at JA604A.
777-300ER—BB-8
Updated 6 March 2016
In March 2016, ANA will begin international service with the BB-8 themed 777-300ER, mainly on Japan-North America routes. The aircraft, JA789A, will be unveiled in late March and ferry from Xiamen where it is being painted to Osaka. It re-enter service on 28 March between Osaka and Tokyo as NH22. It will then fly its first international flight on 29 March from Tokyo (Haneda) to Los Angeles as NH106. It will operate Tokyo-Los Angeles through 8 April, then other international routes from Tokyo, including New York, Chicago, Washington D.C, Houston, and Singapore.
Tracking the Star Wars Liveries
We don’t yet know which aircraft will wear the Star Wars liveries, but when we do we’ll update this post so that you can easily track them via registration.
ANA Star Wars-themed Special Liveries
| Registration | Type | Star Wars Livery |
|---|---|---|
| JA873A | Boeing 787 | R2-D2 |
| JA604A | Boeing 767-300ER | R2-D2 & BB-8 |
| JA789A | Boeing 777-300ER | BB-8 |
