BB-8™ ANA JET to Fly from Haneda to Los Angeles
STAR WARS fans have rejoiced over the R2-D2™ ANA JET last year but now Japan's largest airline has announced the inaugural flight of the final of three aircraft that is decorated in special STAR WARS livery - the BB-8™ ANA JET (Boeing 777-300). Featuring the new and adorable character from the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens, BB-8™ ANA JET will roll out on 27 March 2016 (domestically) and commence on her first international route on 29 March 2016.
Click HERE to find out more about the ANA STAR WARS Project!
The BB-8™ ANA JET will depart from Haneda Airport at 12:05AM on 29 March 2016 to Los Angeles (ANA106) and it will link Haneda and Narita to the US – Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Houston.
BB-8™ ANA JET | Photo Credit: ANA
Passengers on the BB-8™ ANA JET will experience the world of Star Wars with specially-designed BB-8 paper cups and headrest covers and cabin attendants will wear BB-8 aprons. On the R2-D2™ ANA JET, which is already in service (Boeing 787-9 flying international routes), cabin attendants wear R2-D2 aprons.
Thanks to an invitation by Singapore Airlines, I spent the last two days in Charleston, South Carolina where I got to tour the Boeing South Carolina facility and meet some of the biggest names in the travel industry. As some of you may know, Singapore Airlines' very first 787-10 Dreamliner landed in Changi Airport, Singapore this morning and with this, the airline has also introduced brand new regional cabin products that will will slowly replace the existing ones that are operated on the A330-300 and the 777-200. Singapore Airlines is also looking at the possibility of introducing new routes with the 787-10 Dreamliner.
This is the moment that everyone has been waiting for - an exclusive first look at the new Business Class seats on Singapore Airlines’ Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. As mentioned previously, these new cabin products will be rolled out on selected flights between Singapore and Osaka as well as Perth. They will also be installed on selected Airbus A350s that will be utilised on regional routes (under eight hours of flight time) from Singapore.
If you have been following me closely on Instagram, you would have known that I am part of the media team who travelled to Charleston, South Carolina for the delivery of the world's first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner to Singapore Airlines. The delivery ceremony which took place this evening in South Carolina marks the airlines' first 787-10 Dreamliner model - Singapore Airlines Group is the first in the world to operate all three Dreamliner models.
Instead of offering just 30% off required miles to selected destinations in March 2018 via KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes, eligible KrisFlyer members can now enjoy 50% redemption discount on award flights to Bali - redemption must be completed by 28 February 2018 for flights from 1-31 March 2018. With this generous 50% discount, flying to Bali will only require 3,750 miles and 8,750 miles in Economy Class and Business Class respectively each way.
Following the announcement earlier this month where Singapore Airlines revealed that Osaka is set to become the first scheduled route for their brand new Boeing 787-10 flight, the airline has now announced that Perth will become the second scheduled destination to be served by the new fleet of Dreamliners.
Air New Zealand will begin operating non-stop flights between Auckland (AKL) and Taipei (TPE) from November 2018 on their Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner planes. The flag carrier of New Zealand will fly up to five times a week between AKL and TPE under flight number NZ77 and NZ78.
Sometime late last year, Singapore Airlines announced the changes (that are already in effect at the time of writing) to the mileage accrual rates, seat selection as well as baggage allowances. One of the things mentioned then was the upcoming changes to the fees pertaining to award tickets as well as redemption upgrades on Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and other partner airlines that will come into effect on 01 March 2018.
Now this is the second time that I am flying Japan Airlines' newest Business Class product (SKY SUITE III) and the last flight from Singapore to Haneda was fairly unimpressive - the product is good but it pales in comparison to Singapore Airlines in terms of food and service (or maybe I am just biased). Check out my review of Japan Airlines' Business Class flight from Haneda to Bangkok here!
It was announced last year that Singapore Airlines and SilkAir customers can access codeshare destinations with Scoot but it seems like Scoot will be taking over the existing service by SilkAir for the Singapore (SIN) to Langkawi (LGK) route. SilkAir currently operates this route three times a week and it is expected to be active until 8 April 2018. Following that, Scoot will increase overall frequency for three to six times a week from 11 April 2018.
I have previously written about the Singapore Airlines HighFlyer Programme which offers an approximate 5% cashback (through HighFlyer points) for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for up to 30 traveling employees. These HighFlyer points are on top of the KrisFlyer miles that travelling employees may earn. Starting from 02 April 2018, businesses who are members of the Singapore Airlines HighFlyer Programme in Singapore and Australia will also be able to earn HighFlyer points on Lufthansa and SWISS operated by Singapore Airlines on eligible sectors between Singapore, Australia, Germany, and Switzerland.