ANA
Mynavi News reported that All Nippon Airways (ANA) operated its Airbus A380, called Flying Honu, for a chartered flight for paid passengers in Japan to make them feel like flying to Hawaii.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, ANA’s A380s, exclusively put in its Hawaii route, were grounded. This chartered flight was after a five-month period.
The chartered flight took place on August 22, 2020, from Narita for about 90 minutes as a special summer experience for the lucky passengers who won their tickets out of so many applications.
A spokesperson for ANA told reporters that the carrier would offer the same flight experience and fun to passengers through precautions against the epidemic disease.
By putting the aircraft to a chartered flight, ANA could avoid mandatory heavy maintenance for an aircraft without flying for over 90 days.
Inside the cabin, flight attendants wore Aloha shirts serving the passengers with drinks while showing the same safety video meant for passengers destined to Hawaii so that the passengers could feel like flying to Hawaii.
The fares for the flight ranged from JPY 14,000 (about USD 130) for economy class and JPY50,000 (about USD 470), quite reasonable for wide variety of passengers of aircraft and travelling enthusiasts. ANA reportedly received 150 timers greater applicants to the available seats
ANA announced it would operate another chartered flight in September thanks to such a big interest.■
