ANA To Retire Final Star Wars Livery Jet, Announces Lottery Event for Exclusive Farewell Viewing
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Featured image: Masahiro TAKAGI/Flickr | CC BY 2.0 Generic
After 11 years working together, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Disney/Lucasfilm are winding down their Star Wars movie partnership. Over the past 11 years, ANA painted four jets in various Star Wars-themed liveries, including two Boeing 777s, one 787 Dreamliner and one 767-300ER.
| Livery (Character) | Aircraft Type and Registration | Retirement Status |
|---|---|---|
| R2‑D2 ANA JET | Boeing 787-9 – JA873A | Livery Retired on August 6, 2025 |
| BB‑8 ANA JET | Boeing 777-300ER – JA789A | Livery Retired on March 31, 2022 (aircraft left ANA fleet December 2022) |
| Star Wars ANA Jet (dual-sided R2-D2 and BB-8 livery) | Boeing 767-300ER – JA604A | Livery retired in March 2019 (Aircraft left ANA fleet in March 2021) |
| C‑3PO ANA JET | Boeing 777-200ER – JA743A | Livery to be retired in Janaury 2026 |
On August 4, 2025, ANA announced that the partnership would officially conclude on March 31, 2026. At the time, there were two Star Wars-themed jets remaining in the fleet, that being the R2-D2 themed Boeing 787-9 and the C‑3PO Boeing 777-200ER. Since then, the 787-9 performed its last flight wearing the special theme on August 6, 2025, being repainted in regular ANA colors after.
In the same announcement, ANA also stated that the last remaining livery (C-3PO) will be decommissioned in early January 2026. Fast forward to December, and ANA has opened up a lottery to allow up to 80 people (40 ANA Mileage Club members and one accompanying guest each) to have the chance to view the C-3PO skinned aircraft one last time at its Haneda maintenance hangar.
The viewing event is set to take place on January 10, 2026, and will be split into morning and afternoon sessions. Both sessions will be limited to 20 club members each (and their respective guests), allowing close up access before the aircraft is repainted in the standard ANA livery.
If you are interested in entering the lottery, you must be an ANA Mileage Club member (18 years of age or older). Each winner will be entitled to bring one guest. Guests do not need to be club members, but should be 12 years of age or older. The lottery runs from December 5, 2025 (Fri) 10:00AM to December 14, 2025 (Sun) 11:59PM (JST). Those interested can read up more here on how to enter.
ANA has also posted an official timetable listing the last few flights expected to be performed by the C-3PO-themed Boeing 777-200ER as follows. These flights will be part of the airline’s regular schedule, but if you’re interested in booking one of these flights, you should do so as soon as possible, as prices will most likely skyrocket.
January 7, 2026
| Flight Number | Route |
|---|---|
| NH17 | Tokyo–Haneda (HND) to Osaka–Itami (ITM) |
| NH765 | Osaka–Itami (ITM) to Okinawa–Naha (OKA) |
| NH766 | Okinawa–Naha (OKA) to Osaka–Itami (ITM) |
| NH34 | Osaka–Itami (ITM) to Tokyo–Haneda (HND) |
| NH77 | Tokyo–Haneda (HND) to Sapporo–New Chitose (CTS) |
| NH84 | Sapporo–New Chitose (CTS) to Tokyo–Haneda (HND) |
January 8 and 9, 2026
| Flight Number | Route |
|---|---|
| NH51 | Tokyo–Haneda (HND) to Sapporo–New Chitose (CTS) |
| NH54 | Sapporo–New Chitose (CTS) to Tokyo–Haneda (HND) |
| NH63 | Tokyo–Haneda (HND) to Sapporo–New Chitose (CTS) |
| NH66 | Sapporo–New Chitose (CTS) to Tokyo–Haneda (HND) |
| NH265 | Tokyo–Haneda (HND) to Fukuoka (FUK) |
| NH270 | Fukuoka (FUK) to Tokyo–Haneda (HND) |
With any retirement flight, there is still that tiny risk of a last-minute equipment swap due to unavoidable circumstances. ANA advised that should this be the case, they will not implement the Star Wars themed special in-flight announcements, customized headrest covers, CA aprons and paper cups on the substitute aircraft.
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This isn’t ANA’s first partnership. They’ve also worked with The Pokémon Company from 1998 through 2016, introducing a number of Pokémon-themed jets over that period. Later on, they partnered with manga publisher Shueisha to promote the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba series from 2022 through 2024. Besides the special liveries, both the Pokémon and Demon Slayer jets also featured customized cabin audio, safety briefings, with seats, cups, literature and other items to match the respective liveries.
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