ANA is well known for its special aircraft liveries, ranging from Star Wars to the Flying Honu A380s. One such livery was the Fly! Panda livery applied to a Boeing 767-300ER in July 2007. So what happened to this aircraft and livery? And why was it made in the first place? Let’s find out!
Celebrating friendly relations
ANA released the Fly! Panda livery in July 2007 to mark two important occasions. The first was the airline’s 20 years of serving China, and the second was to celebrate 35 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. But who was behind this indisputably cute livery name?
ANA’s tasked this to a naming competition among elementary schools across Japan. We are happy to say that they delivered on this mission, with Fly! Panda selected as the name for this 767-300ER livery. Designer Takayuki Soeda created the black-and-white spotted livery, which features text in English, Mandarin, and Japanese along with a small panda.
In a statement about the new livery in 2007, ANA’s then-Executive VP of marketing and sales, and current Chairman of the board, Shinichiro Ito, said,
“With its eye-catching exterior and panda themed interior, meals and cabin crew uniforms, we hope to capture the imagination of customers flying to China and make them as excited as we are about flying to our next door neighbour…We are proud of our 20 year history of linking the peoples of our two countries and look forward to next year’s Beijing Olympics as a high point in travel between Japan and China.”
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Where did it go?
The unique 767 primarily flew to Beijing and Hong Kong, with occasional visits to Guangzhou. However, the aircraft has been spotted at airports worldwide, including Taipei and Vancouver.
The Fly! Panda livery was placed on J606A, one of ANA’s 767-300ERs. It reverted to its standard colors in January 2015, nearly eight years later. J606A was delivered new in July 2002, according to Planespotters.net. The aircraft was in active service until January 2021, when ANA withdrew it.
After six months on the ground, the 767 made its way to Tel Aviv for conversion to a freighter aircraft in July 2021. The 767 now belongs to Cargo Aircraft Management, a major cargo jet lessor. Once ready, you can find this plane flying for freight operators under the registration N391CM.
Former @BoeingAirplanes 767-300ER (JA606A) @FlyANA_official has arrived in Tel Aviv to be converted into a freighter by @ILAerospaceIAI. New reg: N391CM. Photos: Rami Mizrahi. pic.twitter.com/lT4hAAM2sB
— Aeronews (@AeronewsGlobal) July 8, 2021
After almost 19 years of service with ANA, this 767 is all set to receive a new life as a freighter. While it likely won’t find itself with equally exciting liveries, the aircraft will remain in the skies for years to come.
Bouncing back
While Japan’s borders have been off-limits since March 2020, ANA is planning for a tourism reopening in 2022. While this will be contingent on the government easing restrictions, the airline expects to attract travelers quickly to the country. For now, ANA is still battling complicated restrictions as COVID shows no signs of letting up.
What do you think about ANA’s special liveries? Let us know in the comments!
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