Pokémon Jets: How ANA Turned Jumbo Jets Into Flying Pikachu

In the summer of 1998, All Nippon Airways rolled out a Boeing 747 that looked unlike anything else at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Instead of the usual white and blue, the jumbo jet was covered from nose to tail in brightly coloured Pokémon, with Pikachu front and centre. For a generation of Japanese children, it instantly became the best plane in the world.

The timing was perfect. Pokémon Red and Green had launched in Japan only two years earlier, the anime was already a hit on Japanese television, and the franchise was about to explode overseas. ANA saw a chance to make flying feel like an adventure for families, and the Pokémon Jet became one of the most memorable airline promotions ever attempted.

The livery was only the beginning. Passengers on Pokémon Jet flights could find themed touches throughout the cabin, from headrest covers to cups and souvenirs. A short domestic hop between Tokyo and Sapporo or Osaka suddenly felt like a collectible experience, and plane spotters began planning airport visits around the jets' schedules.

A second design followed for 1999, nicknamed the Pokémon Jet '99, and over the following years ANA kept refreshing the fleet with new artwork tied to new games and films. Every new livery meant another wave of fans lining the observation decks with cameras ready.

The Boeing 747 gave the designers an enormous canvas. Its long fuselage and distinctive upper-deck hump let artists spread characters across the whole aircraft, so the plane was recognisable even from the far side of the airport. ANA flew its high-capacity domestic 747s on some of the busiest routes in the world, which meant a huge number of people got to fly on a Pokémon Jet at least once.

When ANA retired its domestic 747s, the Pokémon Jets did not disappear. The airline announced a new generation of Pokémon-themed aircraft, and the tradition has continued in different forms ever since, with other Japanese carriers flying Pikachu-painted planes of their own.

Here is ANA's own announcement of a new set of Pokémon Jets:

Today the original Pokémon Jets are remembered as a turning point in how brands use aircraft. They proved that a livery could be a destination in itself, something people would travel to see, photograph and talk about for years. For many Japanese families, the first flight they remember was on a plane covered in Pikachu.

If you ever spot a Pokémon plane on the tarmac, take a moment to wave. There is a good chance someone on board has been looking forward to that flight for months.

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Hideyuki KAMON (CC BY-SA 2.0), Yamaguchi Yoshiaki (CC BY-SA 2.0), Kentaro Iemoto (CC BY-SA 2.0).