All Nippon Airways takes delivery of its third and final Airbus A380. The arrival of the orange superjumbo completes ANA’s Flying Honu fleet.
The orange Honu, registered as JA383A, took off from Toulouse Blagnac Airport (TLS), France, on October 15, 2021. Following an almost 12 hour journey, the aircraft landed at Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT), Japan, on October 16, 2021.
The aircraft delivery comes days after Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau approved ANA plans to introduce mixed fleet flying for the A380 and A320 family aircraft, according to the Airbus announcement on October 14, 2021.
The approval will enable ANA pilots to be certified to operate both the A320 and A380 aircraft type on a regular and concurrent basis. For the airline, this means that it will be able to interchange differently sized aircraft at short notice without crew-scheduling difficulties, according to Airbus.
All three All Nippon Airways A380s feature a distinct livery that reflects the Tokyo-Honolulu route they all were meant to operate. The elaborate paint job is nicknamed ‘Flying Honu’ as the liveries represent a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle, known as ‘Honu’ in the country’s language.
They come in three different colors: blue, green, and orange. The blue design of the first Honu represents the blue skies over Hawaii, while the emerald green livery of the second aircraft marks clear oceans surrounding the Pacific island chain. The orange design, first showcased by Airbus in January 2020, is a symbol of a sunset in Hawaii.
ANA welcomed its first superjumbo in March 2019 and received its second Honu two months later, in May 2019. The third A380 was first expected to arrive in April 2020, following its rollout in Airbus facilities in Hamburg, Germany, in January 2020.