About two months ago, I wrote about Japan Airlines applying SAMURAI BLUE livery to one of its domestic 777s. Yesterday, the airline announced the details about its second SAMURAI JET designed to support the Japanese national soccer team at the upcoming World Cup in Russia.
The first SAMURAI BLUE Jet which took off on a regular flight for the first time on April 1, 2018, will be joined by the new aircraft later this month.
SAMURAI BLUE Support Jet No. 2
The second SAMURAI BLUE Jet livery will be applied on a Boeing 787-8, and it will be used on international routes.
Unlike the first SAMURAI BLUE Jet which features nice large decals throughout the fuselage, the second one will only feature a small decoration with a soccer player, a samurai warrior, and “Spirit of Victory” titles on the rear part of the fuselage.
The aircraft is expected to enter into service with the new decals applied on April 21, 2018. And, it will keep operating until the end of September 2018 on routes international routes that are scheduled to be operated by the type including Tokyo Narita – Moscow and Tokyo Narita – Bangkok.
While it is great to see JAL adding another non-standard livery aircraft to its fleet, unfortunately, in this case the decals are underwhelming. Especially compared to the very good looking 777 which I have yet to photograph in good conditions.
