The trend of decorating airliners with Pokemon-themed liveries has picked up in full force once more in Japan after a few years of hiatus.
Today Miyazaki-based regional airline Solaseed Air announced that it'll launch its second "Nassy Jet" in March, following the first that was launched in 2020. It will be operational for about three years.
As the name suggests, the colorful livery focuses on Exeggutor and Alolan Exeggutor as you can see below. In case you didn't know, "Nassy" is the Japanese name of Exeggutor. We also see a couple of cute Alolan Raichu on top of the sun and the sea of Miyazaki.
The choice of theme is not surprising. In Japan, various prefectures have selected certain species of Pokemon as their mascots. Exeggutor is the pick for Miyazaki prefecture. Albeit in a less visible way, Alolan Raichu has also been associated with the region.
The livery will appear on the Boeing 737-800 registered as JA803X, a 10-year-old aircraft that has been in service with Solaseed since its delivery in 2012. The in-flight experience will also match the theme, with paper cups and headrests decorated with Exeggutor and his friends. They will also appear on the aprons worn by the flight attendants.
The previous Nassy Jet, JA812X, had its own special livery retired in September 2022 after a little less than two years, so it's fitting that it's replaced by a new one that is also a lot more colorful. Solaseed was actually the first airline to bring back the Pokemon Jet trend after several years in which none were in operation.
The trend dates all the way back to 1998 with ANA, which launched a Boeing 747 and two Boeing 767. The most famous is likely the beloved "Pikachu Jumbo" JA8957 launched in 2004 and painted bright yellow. It was retired in 2013 with an emotional farewell among its many fans.
Currently, there are three Pokemon jets in operation in Japan, two operated by Skymark focusing on Flying Pikachu and one by Air Do focusing on Vulpix. The new Nassy Jet will be the fourth. The trend has actually extended outside of Japan as of late, with airliners operated by China Airlines in Taiwan, Scoot in Singapore, and T'way in South Korea.
In the meanwhile, if you're more interested in games, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet is currently available exclusively for Nintendo Switch. It'll soon receive a new update that will hopefully fix its many glitches and bugs.
