ANA Retires Star Wars Boeing 777

It’s the end of an era for ANA, which is saying goodbye to its iconic Star Wars C-3PO livery on the Boeing 777.

Registered as JA743A, the aircraft was first equipped with the special Star Wars Livery in May 2017; since then, it has been flown in a special yellow design highlighting the lovable C-3PO droid.

JA743A was first delivered to ANA on 28 March 2013. The aircraft is a Boeing 777-281(ER) and was ferried between Paine Field (PAE) and Tokyo Haneda (HND) on 29-30 March 2013.

Now, the aircraft has completed its final flight with this livery, operating as NH270 between Fukuoka and Tokyo Haneda, departing Fukuoka at 1955 and arriving in Tokyo at 2130.

The final day of operations with this livery was, as it always was, busy, with many Japanese services completed, ranging from the Fukuoka service to the airline in the afternoon, jetting off to Sapporo, and, in the morning, also completing a Sapporo flight.

Operating as NH51 in the morning, returning to Haneda as NH54, then jetting back off as NH63, and then the final flights of NH265/270.

ANA’s Long History With Star Wars

The airline’s C-3PO special livery wasn’t its only commitment to Star Wars; it had previously appeared on the R2-D2 scheme on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Unfortunately, this livery was also retired; the airline said farewell to the scheme last year. Ultimately, all of this was part of the ANA Star Wars Project.

What made the R2-D2 livery special was that it was also adopted on a factory-fresh Dreamliner; since the aircraft was built, it’s the only livery people have known. The jet, registered as JA873A.

Another passenger jet was also painted in a special droid livery, resembling BB-8 from the sequel trilogy and featuring on a Boeing 777; however, that era has now come to a close at the Japanese airline after over a decade of presence throughout the business.

The End Of An Agreement

Unfortunately, while sad, the move to have these liveries disappear has been a long time in the making, following the agreement between ANA and Disney coming to a close after a decade.

Over the last year, the window of these liveries has certainly become apparent with the R2-D2 livery disappearing, followed by the C-3PO scheme.

These liveries, ultimately becoming more than just a special scheme for the airline to support the Star Wars franchise, it became an experience for travellers unlike your typical ANA journey.

The airline flagging that these jets, while seeing their liveries come to an end, much like eventually droids and serving the business well, brought joy to passengers around the world for years, and now its mission is complete.

ANA says it has brought smiles right around the world with this special livery and fleet, and while that chapter has come to a close, the memories will continue to live on through stories, images and videos.