Fly to Seoul with Eva Air X Hello Kitty Airplanes~ LAX airport launch!

This week I had the amazing opportunity to attend a VIP event to unveil the newest Hello Kitty themed jet ( Boeing 777-300ER)  by Taiwanese airline Eva Air at the Los Angeles LAX airport! Yes, You can fly the Hello Kitty airplane out of the USA now!!   Eva Air has worked with Sanrio in the past on several different Hello Kitty-tastic plane designs, the newest one titled “Hand in Hand” features 19 characters in the Sanrio family and is by far the cutest one yet!

Eva Air launched its very first Hello Kitty jet in 2005~ and as of 2013  they have 5 shorter-range planes (Airbus A330s) that fly to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Mainland China and Guam. ”Hand in Hand”  is the first long-range aircraft (Boeing 777) and will be flying 3 times a week out of LAX!

This was a celebration not only because of the new “Hand in Hand” design and Boeing 777 launch, but also because this day was the very first landing of an Eva Air Hello Kitty plane in America!!!!   I have tried to book flights on Sanrio planes in the past, but the flights are rare and mainly within Asia, so having LAX as a proper stop at last is so exciting!  How can you not have fun on a Hello Kitty airplane?

We arrived to the party a little early before the plane landed (it was on its way from Taipei!) so thankfully it was not too crowded to get in~  however the event was very small and mainly for press so even at its peek it was not overly crowded.  More kitty for us!!

Hello Kitty and my favorite little guy Dear Daniel looking sharp in the Eva Air Uniforms!

In the hallway we were greeted by giant kitty boarding passes.  The real passes actually look like this!

The hallway was also decorated with some of the Sanrio art made for Eva Air.  These appear on other planes!

Stephiee~  one of the designers behind the clothing brand Japan LA ! She is wearing the new Tuxedo Sam dress coming out this October~ he is just one of several character dresses they are doing!

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Maria~  designer for the adorable jewelry line Locketship rocking Japan LA X Sanrio leggings and an altered vintage dress!

My outfit for this event was a super comfy caveman Hello Kitty sweater by Japan LA Clothing!  This is part of their 2014 Spring collection so please look forward to it because it is going to be a lot of fun! ^^  the necklace was a piece of mine sponsored by The Jammy a few months ago, and my Hello Kitty bag is from Loungefly!

Time to check in and get our passes!

First goodie of the night, cute red Hello Kitty bow from Eva Air!!

Some of the adorable flight attendants for Eva Air Hello Kitty plane!

This event had a BUNCH of mascots walking around, apparently these are the crew from Puroland (aka the Hello Kitty theme park) in Japan!  We had to jump on Kiki and Lala for photos of course!!  They are my favorite characters ^^

For the event they flew in a lot of special talent from Japan~  including two official Sanrio character artists who would draw art boards for you!  Ahhhh I wanted one so bad, but within minutes the line had maxed out and they could not take any more appointments T__T

Kammie’s beautiful Hello Kitty in her Eva Air flight attendant uniform!

They also flew in a Sanrio nail art specialist as well!  Sadly while waiting to try and get an art board appointment she filled up and was unable to take any more as well T_T dang, I had to admire from a distance!

She had an adorable selection of character nails for you to select!  Gah, which one would you pick?

Even though she only had two hours, she worked with a lot of speed and beautiful detail~ as expected!! wow *_*

Ta-da!!  Behold this adorable nail art of Lala from the Twin Stars!  Everyone that managed to get a manicure slot got one character nail due to time~ one is enough though!

The always fabulous Chrissa Sparkles appears in the Hello kitty costume dress by Japan LA Clothing! Onch Movement also arrived looking  pink and adorable as ever with his awesome dripping necklace! Stephiee’s little one ditched us for him lol

Mandie of Geeky Glamorous and I rocking two pieces from the Cave Kitty collection together! She had little dinosaur earring and added a fur collar, so good!!

Jamie, the owner of Japan LA on Melrose and Japan LA Clothing sporting her very own badtz maru skirt with suspenders design!  This item is actually for sale right now, I am so tempted to get one.

Sanrio characters skipping around and being adorable with cute costumed tutu attendant girls. Business as usual in Kawaii-land!

Michelle aka “Chubby Bunny” arrives and braces for the kawaii lol!  Michelle is the designer of the Hello Kitty bow you see on her head~  those have become official Sanrio bows and they use them in a lot of events and sell them at select shops!  She also sews clothing for a lot of the Hello Kitty mascot events and does a million other cool things.

Juliedoll and Kammie both looked extremely adorable at the party!

Hats off to the catering of the event, even the girls on staff had adorable uniforms topped with bows.

Everything was creative and yummy! I loved the bitty little pancakes with honey they served *_*

For sweets they had a huge tower of Hello Kitty red velvet cupcakes, oh yesssss

All kitty, all the time.

Chrissa cupcake attack!! 

In the back of the event tent they had all the goods from Eva Air X Sanrio on display for everyone to admire.  The detail was really impressive, they went all out with almost every element of this airline!  Even the plastic utensils had little characters on them!

Adorable display of the in-flight snacks~ peanut bags and ice cream, Hello Kitty themed of course!

When the plane pulled up it was actually my first time even seeing the new art~ I went not having any clue what it would look like at all!   The other designs were cute in a traditional Sanrio way with basic reds..greens…yellows etc, but this one is just SUPER ADORABLE PASTEL-TASTIC!

Had a bit of a mini freak out from the cuteness of characters holding hands on a colorful jet.

As the stairs pulled up to prepare for the people inside the plane (just a select few including a member of X Japan if I heard right) the mascot characters and girls did some adorable musical numbers in Japanese from Puroland~  it was extremely cute!!!

My Melody and Kuromi 

Finally everyone lined up to greet the real guests of honor, Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel!

Ready to hop aboard and check out this amazing plane!!!

Inside the cabin they had some of the airline goodies on display!  Almost all the basics have a fun Hello Kitty twist to them on this plane~  Eva Air claims to have almost 100 different items for passengers made special for this theme!

Yes, they even have Hello Kitty toilet paper for the airline!!

Some of the in-flight items on the Hello Kitty planes actually change based on the season!  Menus, coasters, napkins, etc have different designs depending on the time of year you fly ♥

How about an in-flight Hello Kitty snack? This features the fall theme!

The flight attendants had cute pink Hello Kitty aprons with little bows at the hip!  All the insert cards you normally find in the seat pockets also had been specially made to keep with the Sanrio theme!  Details!!

If you are a well-behaved passenger you can get special goodies if you ask like memo pads, playing cards, and pens!

First stop, first class!  Put on your snobby face! Note the fancy Hello Kitty version of  ”Birth of Venus” hanging on the wall, haha nice!  This area was just like most of the standard first class areas nowadays on international flights.  I fly to Asia a lot and would love to be able to afford sitting in these booths so I can sleep properly!

First class had very classy Sanrio family pillows, but the lack of color made it a little boring.  I thought for such expensive seats it would be a little more impressive, you know?  It was very much “this is first class with a Sanrio pillow” sort of feel~  so no need to fret if you can not afford the fancy ticket, you would not be missing too much of the kitty experience!

In first class on the Eva Air Sanrio planes they have a fancy variation of Hello Kitty dinner!

Economy class was a little more colorful vs first class on Hello Kitty Eva Air!

Economy seemed nice and spacious~ however we found the color disappointing plus the lack of custom seat fabric or art on the walls!  I have been on a few Japanese airlines that did this in the interior and it makes the whole atmosphere really fun during your trip! More Kitty or pretty colors please!!

The pillows and head rest slips are ADORABLE though!  I wanted to take one so bad!  *_*

Just sit back~

and relax!

Meals and snacks are provided on all Sanrio x Eva Air flights ♥  Both Western and Eastern menus are available, as well as special meals for children, vegetarians and those with religious restrictions apparently!  These are included in the ticket price like most airlines, and will not cost you extra.

I was SO EXCITED to see they had more of the plane food on display, I LOVE THEMED FOOD.  I had come across a few images online of the Sanrio-themes meals on Eva Air, but seeing it in person is always the best!

The detail on the dinner plates was amazing for airline food, it was like something I would gladly order at a cafe!   Tiny little fruits cut into hello kitty faces, and a salad finished off with her little bow!

Note in this box set that they are using the special Hello Kitty bow container design for this airline!

Another yummy Eva Air Hello Kitty meal~  complete with some Hello kitty strawberry biscuits for dessert!

and finally a Hello Kitty fish dinner with a side of Kitty fruit and Kitty cake!  They do have other options (online I saw lots more sample meals) but they change based on the time of year. All the plates are adorable though, and that is what is important I guess!!

And if flying does not sit well with your tummy, no need to worry!  You can look kawaii with your very own Hello Kitty barf bag!!!

Flashing on the screens they had a special Sanrio-themed pre-departure video to greet passengers!

Seated and ready for takeoff!

KW Chang states that he brought about the concept of Hello Kitty jets to make flying fun~ well done!

Some of the Eva Air Sanrio Pilots made an appearance after landing the plane! I wonder if they enjoy flying this plane any more vs the others?  I think it must be fun to have passengers actually excited to be on the plane you are flying XD

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Awesome fact: EVA Air’s Chairman, KW Chang was a pilot for this event today flying the plane from Taipei to LA!  Apparently he often acts as a pilot for this route, how cool is that?  Next time you fly, the entire airlines chairman may just be your pilot *_*

If you are itching to shop and hoard some special Hello Kitty items beyond the freebies you need not worry, Eva Air has teamed up with Sanrio to offer a really nice selection of very special items you can purchase in flight with the provided catalogs!   Bags, key chains, puzzles, models, jewelry, even a special Hello Kitty edition phone!

Many of the items are not just Hello Kitty goodies, but unique to this airline only!

Brand new fold-able keyboard designed after the new “Hand in Hand” plane art & a beautiful Hello Kitty necklace complete with a tiny airplane to remember your experience!

Eva Air X Sanrio mascot key chains for $30USD !  If I ever get to take this plane I want to buy these for Nara and I *_*

Eva Air’s special Hello Kitty check-in area! Photo source pichi chuang / Reuters / MSNBC

The amazing Kitty times does not end with what we experienced though.  Although I did not have the opportunity to view it myself (yet)  Eve Air also has additional themed items like fragile stickers for bags, luggage tags, boarding passes, lounge seating within the airport and the most amazing check-in kiosk area pretty much EVER complete with custom Hello Kitty software.  Apparently these areas are at several airports with Eva Air, including LAX which was listed online to be opening as of 9/20/2013

Out of the 17 weekly flights between LAX and Taipei through Eva Air, 3 of them will feature this unique Hello Kitty Airplane experience!  Flights go to several fun destinations like Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, and more~  but since this is a Taiwanese company they all stop in Taipei!  So yes, you can not get a direct flight from LA to Tokyo, but you can go from LA to Taipei to Tokyo.  I really would love to visit Taiwan someday though, so this is an amazing excuse *_* is that bad to base travel on just an airline? lol

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So just how expensive is it to fly with Hello Kitty and Eva Air? Tickets include baggage and meal costs and range from around $1000-$1500 per person, which is actually fairly standard for flying to Asia from California!  Obviously if you use those cheap ticket webpages you can sometimes book flights for around $800-$900, but I would gladly pay around $1000 or so for a trip on this airline!  It is a magical experience for sure

GIFT BAG

Even though I was unable to get a sign board or nail art, I was excited to see a pile of  Eva Air gift bags for guests!!  what could be inside?

Aside from the cute plush Eva Air x Hello Kitty bow, they included a nice packet all about the airline and special features it offered + a cute kitty keychain and hello kitty pen.

The MAIN gift was this awesome mini airplane model of the new “Hand in Hand” design though!  They have these for every plane model in the air, so you can collect them as you fly, this one is my favorite!

I LOVE it!!  Need to find a cool spot for it in my office, thank you Eva Air and Sanrio!

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Thank you Sanrio X Eva Air for putting on such an adorable event and bringing so much cuteness to the skies!  I hope someday soon I can fly in this plane and get the full experience ^^  Also a big thank you to Japan LA for bringing me as a guest, I had such a wonderful time and hope all of you reading enjoyed the photos I managed to snap!  Leave some comments, I love reading them!

Links

Eva Air X Hello Kitty official site

Japan LA Clothing Official site

What was your favorite Hello Kitty detail on the plane?  Would you buy a ticket to fly with Sanrio X Eva Air?  Where would you go?  Have you flown before?  Comment below and share!!