The celebrations for the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise are in full swing, and Japanese airline ANA had exciting news to share today.
Thecompany announced that it’ll launch three new Pokémon Jets in 2026: Pokémon Jet Red, Pokémon Jet Green, and Pokémon Jet Blue, as an obvious homage to the three versions of the original game of the franchise.
If you don’t know what a Pokémon Jet is, they’re airliners with Pokémon-themed special liveries, popular especially in Japan but recently seen in other Asian countries as well.
For now, the liveries themselves have not been revealed, but we know that Pokémon Jet RED will be a Boeing 787-8 that will fly domestic routes in Japan, Pokémon Jet Green will be a Boeing 787-9 that will fly international routes, and Pokémon Jet Blue will be a Boeing 737-800 that will fly domestic routes.
The liveries are said to connect in some way and to tell a cohesive story based on the theme of each original game. They will be revealed in May alongside the launch dates.
The press release included a statement from Keiji Omae, Executive Vice President of Customer Experience at ANA.
“This project goes beyond just a livery; it’s about creating an immersive world that sparks imagination, inspires curiosity and brings the joy of discovery to our passengers throughout their journey.
Whether you first began your journey on a Game Boy screen decades ago, or are currently exploring new regions through your mobile apps, we invite you to take your next ‘adventure’ into the real world with ANA. Many of our passengers flying with us today were the kids who marveled at our first Pokémon Jet in 1998. We are honored to be the wings that carry not just passengers, but also their cherished memories and future adventures.”
We also got a trailer, which you can see below, echoing the announcement and teasing the initiative by showing a chronology of the partnership between ANA and Pokémon.
The collaboration between ANA and Pokémon has a long and beloved tradition that started all the way back in 1998 with a Boeing 747 and two Boeing 767 featuring the popular characters on their liveries.
The trend returned to the spotlight a few years ago after a pretty long hiatus via the Pokémon Air Adventures initiative created to promote tourism and travel.
Several airlines in Japan, including Skymark, Solaseed Air, and Air Do, and in Asia, including China Airlines, Scoot, Garuda Indonesia, and T’way, fly airliners starring Pokémon characters.
ANA itself currently flies two of the jets, the Pikachu Jet NH (A 787-9 registered as JA894A9) and the Eevee Jet NH (a 777-300ER registered as JA784A).
ANA is also particularly beloved among fans for having flown the most popular Pokémon Jet of all time, the beloved “Pikachu Jumbo” JA8957, which debuted in 2004. The beautiful 747-481D was beloved due to its massive size and striking yellow color.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and it was eventually retired in 2013, but it still holds a special place in the hearts of many fans and travelers.
More recently, ANA launched an in-flight safety video and a disembarkation video featuring Pokémon characters. They were initially designed to be displayed only on the two Pokémon Jets mentioned above, but they proved so successful that ANA decided to put them on all flights.
This was supposed to be done for a limited time, until May 2025, but again, their success prompted the airline to extend their presence, and they’re still currently aired on all ANA flights with no end in sight.
