Hello Kitty Airline, Airline expands 'Hello Kitty' airplane service---The jet will travel between cities in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong: Good news has come for folks who like to fly, but just wish their airplane had more cutesy Japanese-anime characters involved. A major airline Eva Airways has just expanded service, to this airport Tokyo International Airport and this one Taipei Songshan Airport, for its "Hello Kitty"-themed airplane, which comes complete with matching seats, check-in counters, in-flight menus.
If United Airlines turned the skies "friendly", then EVA Air has now made them "cute." Taiwan's second-largest carrier, EVA Air, and Japan's Sanrio, have collaborated for the second time to bring us Hello Kitty branded air travel. The two companies launched the first generation of Hello Kitty jets in 2005, but that fleet was disbanded in 2009, after its licensing agreement expired.
Then last year, they launched the first of the new fleet, the Hello Kitty 'Magic Stars' Airbus. Soon after, two more brand-new A330-300 aircrafts, The Hello Kitty 'Loves Apples' and the Hello Kitty 'Around The World' jets joined the Magic Stars Jet. Each has 30 Premium Laurel seats and 279 economy seats, an increase of 57 seats over the airline’s A330-200 jets. Magic Stars Jet flies to Sapporo and Guam, Apple Jet flies to Seoul and Fukuoka with the Global Jet serving Hong Kong and Tokyo.
White with the exception of green tails and the EVA logo, the aircraft are giant airborne canvases for Hello Kitty and her friends.
The cute exterior graphics on the jets are only a small part of the enormous branding project. From the actual boarding gate in Taiwan's airport to the ticket kiosks, everything related to the experience is branded with the cute mouthless cartoon kitty
above: new Hello Kitty Kiosks for Eva Air tickets and boarding passes
Flight attendants, headrests, in flight programming and pillows all have the popular Sanrio character upon them in some manner:
On board the plane over 100 in-flight items are specially designed with the Hello Kitty motif - including headrest covers, tissues, paper cups, utensils, milk bottles, snacks, soap dispensers, hand lotion, meals, ice cream, flight attendant aprons... even the barf bags.
above: Attendant aprons, ice cream, snacks and branded barf bags
above: The soaps and lotions on the flights are branded Hello Kitty
above: Hello Kitty branded menus, food trays, chopstix and utensils
above: Hello Kitty branded luggage tags, tickets and boarding passes
Passengers can also purchase limited edition duty-free products, such as Hello Kitty-shaped pasta, miniature plane models, and the flight attendant Hello Kitty aprons.
above: Sanrio duty free store in Madrid airport.
above: Models of EVA Air's Hello Kitty Fleet are available for purchase in their online store
Fans can check Hello Kitty Jet flight schedules, details of the latest travel packages and more on the dedicated website (in Chinese, Korean and Japanese only).
They can also download Hello Kitty Jet wallpaper and keep up-to-date on availability of Hello Kitty duty-free items. As a special bonus, the website features The Story of Logojets video about the origin of EVA’s popular Hello Kitty Jets.
Maybe you've already heard the news: Taiwan airlines - EVA Air introduced three new Hello Kitty planes, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original Hello Kitty plane.It's not just the exterior that turned into Kitty, but the boarding pass, headrest cover on board, tissues, paper cups, plates, packages of bottles, snacks, hand lotion, ice cream, everything has her face on it.
Watch how a new boring Airbus 330-300s turned into a Hello Kitty plane.
Forget the YouTube videos. If you want a real dose of cute cat, book a flight with Taiwan airline EVA Air.
The carrier has recently launched three Hello Kitty-themed aircraft [Chinese language], on which everything from the fuselage to the flight attendants to the food is kitted out in the kawaii cat brand's images.
Passengers have been purring with delight, according to Anna Wong, an EVA Air public relations officer in Hong Kong. "Many people specify that they want to take EVA's special Hello Kitty jet," said Wong. "The response has been excellent so far."
This isn't the first time Taiwan's second-largest carrier and Japan's comic company, Sanrio, which owns the Hello Kitty brand, have collaborated.
The two companies launched the first generation of Hello Kitty jets in 2005. That Kitty fleet was disbanded in 2009, after its licensing agreement expired.
The new Taipei-based Hello Kitty jets -- called Apple Jet, Global Jet and Magic Jet -- will operate for at least a year on different routes originating from Taipei.
Magic Jet flies to Sapporo and Guam. Apple Jet flies to Seoul and Fukuoka. Global Jet serves Hong Kong and Tokyo.
To book, passengers need to check for specific flight codes. See the bottom of this article for details.
The Hello Kitty journey starts with Hello Kitty boarding passes and baggage stickers. Then passengers make their way to a you-can't-miss-it gate dedicated to the Hello Kitty flyer.
The boarding gate in Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport is pink and features a Hello Kitty playground.Passengers can also purchase limited edition duty-free products, such as Hello Kitty-shaped pasta, from flight attendants wearing Hello Kitty aprons.
A dedicated website (in Chinese, Korean and Japanese only) features Kitty White -- Hello Kitty's "real" name -- from which we learn that Hello Kitty weighs as much as three apples and is as tall as five apples.
Magic Jet flies Taipei-Sapporo daily and Taipei-Guam on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Apple Jet flies Taipei-Fukuokaevery Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday; Taipei-Seoul
