Jason Moses
October 8, 2013 
All Nippon Airways made a heart-wrenching decision for fans of Pokémon, airplanes, and Pokémon-themed airplanes last month: the Pikachu Jumbo Jet was being phased out. After September 30th, it would never fly again.
For those unfortunate enough to not know of its majesty, the Pikachu Jumbo Jet was a modified Boeing 747-400D, decked out in a signature Pokémon-themed paint job, and that’s not all: everything from the food containers to the crew uniforms were given the Pokémon treatment. Sadly, rising fuel costs and the age of the plane itself meant something had to give.
Finally, the day arrived. Pikachu Jumbo’s final flight was September 30th, flying out of Haneda airport in Tokyo, and arriving at Naha airport in Okinawa. Passengers were greeted at the departure gate by a welcome staff commemorating the plane’s last moments, and everyone who boarded got a certificate proving they were one of the lucky 556 (and a baby) who had a seat on the Plane of Pokédestiny.
The return flight from Naha — the true, honest-to-goodness last time the plane would ever fly — had a similar treatment, with an added bonus in the form of a rainbow that appeared as if to say “yes, this was a magical plane.”
Kou Nishimura, the flight’s pilot, was sad to see it go. “It’s really emotional, but I’m just happy to see all the kids taking photos with the plane one last time,” he said.
ANA still has a number of other 747-400Ds still in service, but they’re planned to be phased out by March 2014.
Source: Aviation Wire,
Flickr(1),
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Source: Dengeki Online
This story originally ran in the 10/10/13 issue of the Otaku USA e-News
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