Special Flights

Toki Air Inaugural

Onboard Toki Air’s Inaugural Flight: The Steel Crested Ibis Carries Passengers at Long Last

Over three years after being founded in July 2020, Niigata-based Japanese regional airline Toki Air finally launched operations. On January 31, 2024, it operated its first revenue flight, from Niigata to Sapporo Okadama. I had a chance to take the inaugural flight so continue reading to see what it was like and to learn more …

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Catching the Elusive EMB-120: A Short But Fun Aeroexpress Regional Flight

I remember the first time I consciously saw an EMB-120, a now out-of-production Embraer turboprop. It was at Bratislava Airport, back in 2005 when I was just starting my plane spotting and aviation geek journey. While I took photos of the type a number of times since that moment, it took me nearly 20 years …

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Air Tindi Dash 7

Air Tindi Dash 7s: Seeing the Canada-Made Workhorses in Action & Flying on One

  Over the years, the number of Dash 7 four-engined turboprops flying around the world has dwindled. With airlines like Air Greenland retiring the type out of their fleet, only two airlines operate the type on scheduled passenger flights today – Yellowknife-based Air Tindi and Nairobi-based Airkenya Express. Recently, I had a chance to spend …

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Asiana Airlines Boeing 747-400 at Gate

All About Asiana 747s (& Flying on HL7428 – the Last Passenger One)

While there are still plenty of cargo 747-400s flying, that cannot be said about the passenger version of the aircraft. As such, I found it hard to resist catching a flight on Asiana’s sole remaining passenger 747-400 when it got scheduled to fly from Seoul to Tokyo back in April. Continue reading this article to …

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Solaseed Air Nassy (Exeggutor) Jet Onboard Items

Nassy Jet: Flying on Solaseed Air’s New Pokemon Jet on Its First Day

When Pokemon celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2021, I had a feeling that Pokemon-themed aircraft would make a comeback in one way or another. At that point, however, I had no idea that over the next couple of years, there would be multiple such special liveries featured on aircraft belonging to multiple airlines not only …

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ANA Demon Slayer Jets

ANA’s Demon Slayer Jets: All You Need to Know & Flying on the Third Jet’s Inaugural

Unlike Pokemon which I used to watch as a kid and am still a fan of and Star Wars where I can at least recognize the characters, I have never seen an episode of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. That said, as an aviation enthusiast living in Tokyo, I definitely took note of ANA introducing …

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ANA A380 Charter Arrival

Flying Honu Joyride: Trying Out ANA A380’s Premium Economy in a Fun Way

ANA dedicated its three “Flying Honu” A380s to one purpose – flying between Tokyo and Honolulu. Unfortunately, the demand on the route dropped to near zero when Japan closed its borders at the beginning of the pandemic. As a result, the A380s were grounded. Unlike other airlines which simply sent their A380s to storage, however, …

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Skymark Pikachu Jet BC2 in Okinawa

Skymark’s Pikachu Jets: All You Need to Know & Flying on BC2’s Inaugural

Having grown up watching and playing Pokemon, ANA’s now-gone Pokemon Jets are my all-time favorite special liveries. With Peace Jet’s retirement in 2016 and the introduction of ANA Star Wars Jets, however, it became clear the era of ANA Pokemon Jets has come to an end (for the time being). Still, I was hoping that they would …

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ANA BB-8 Jet Last Flight Photo Session

Goodbye, BB-8 ANA Jet! (A Dramatic Last Day and a Great Last Flight)

Aviation enthusiasts in Japan and around the world got great news in mid-2015 when ANA announced a partnership with The Walt Disney Company to launch the ANA Star Wars Project which would include painting aircraft in special liveries. Eventually, four aircraft – Star Wars ANA Jet, R2D2 ANA Jet, BB-8 ANA Jet, and C3PO ANA …

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