Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's ... a whale shark?
March 8, 2017 2:52 PM   Subscribe

In Hawaii the green sea turtle is considered a symbol of good luck and prosperity. So it makes sense that when ANA bought some new Airbus A380s to fly on the Tokyo/Honolulu route, they are to be painted to resemble a flying turtle. Decorating large airliners to look like animals isn't new, Southwest have "Shamu", the airborne Orca, Russian carrier Transaero have a Jumbo tiger, JAL have a whaleshark, Alaska Air a flying salmon. Azores Air have gone for, against all probability, a sperm whale, but sadly no sign of it's attendent pot of petunias. Then of course there's the Pokejet (one of several)
posted by auntie-matter (21 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
"From Hell's heart, I recline at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last packet of peanuts at thee!"
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:59 PM on March 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


I think the pot of petunias has been through enough.
posted by wabbittwax at 3:10 PM on March 8, 2017 [6 favorites]


Pot of Petunias drone in the Azores Kickstarter, anyone?
posted by joeyh at 3:17 PM on March 8, 2017


Oh no, not again.
posted by mushhushshu at 3:21 PM on March 8, 2017 [9 favorites]


Fedex will ship a panda
posted by theora55 at 3:22 PM on March 8, 2017


The airline would probably prefer not to call to mind what happens with the whale and the pot of petunias. Not very good for business.
posted by dilettante at 3:40 PM on March 8, 2017


Once upon a time there was a lovely airline called Frontier that used to paint different animals on the tail of each jet.

They still paint different animals on the tail of each jet, I think.
posted by nat at 3:54 PM on March 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


This post feels incomplete without Eva Air's Sanrio (Hello Kitty, Badtz-Maru, GUDETAMA OMG) planes.
posted by btfreek at 4:38 PM on March 8, 2017


Don't forget the ANA Star Wars jets.
posted by JoeZydeco at 4:40 PM on March 8, 2017


Fly Pokejet: why is our airplane circling over the city again? Pokejet: one sec, I just have to do this one quick thing over here before we land.
posted by deludingmyself at 4:50 PM on March 8, 2017


I once went dressed as a "carpet shark" (Orectolobiformes) to a college Halloween dance and everyone thought it was a reference to oral sex, which it was not.
posted by My Dad at 5:05 PM on March 8, 2017


Don't forget the ANA Star Wars jets.
Just this past Saturday we saw the BB-8 jet at Narita. Also saw an EVA Airlines jet with some characters all over it. I don't think it was one of the Sanrio jets, but I couldn't see well enough to be sure.
posted by Guernsey Halleck at 5:16 PM on March 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


Once upon a time there was a lovely airline called Frontier that used to paint different animals on the tail of each jet.

Note to self: O'Reilly Airlines...
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:41 PM on March 8, 2017


Note to self: O'Reilly Airlines...
Smash cut to a pilot in a cockpit, madly flipping through Landing in a Nutshell.
posted by zamboni at 5:56 PM on March 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


Fedex will ship a panda

The Panda Express just made another shipment last month.
posted by JoeZydeco at 6:12 PM on March 8, 2017


Southwest have "Shamu", the airborne Orca

The Love Airline dropped that shit a few years ago, mores to them.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 8:22 PM on March 8, 2017


ANA A380 IS FRIEND TO ALL CHILDREN
posted by straight at 8:48 PM on March 8, 2017 [5 favorites]


Gudetama? Interesting, evidently I need to go to Taipei. I didn't know.
posted by nat at 12:35 AM on March 9, 2017


I flew JAL from Taipei to Narita just last week and saw the whaleshark plane from the terminal! At first it was, "That couldn't be...could it?" And then I was in love.

Dr. Tully Monster took the EVA Hello Kitty plane on the same route a couple years ago. Everything inside was pink and Hello Kitty, from the seats right down to the chopsticks (which he saved for our nieces) and the barf bag (which he didn't). His seatmate, a Taiwanese businessman, did not find the decor quite so amusing.

Honorable mention to the Taipei MRT's Majimeow train cars (I for one find Majimeow much cuter than HelloKitty--and she's so helpful).
posted by tully_monster at 3:32 AM on March 9, 2017 [1 favorite]




Disney's Frozen Themed Jet
posted by blue_beetle at 4:41 AM on March 9, 2017


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