ANA A380 Flying Honu First Class

As the last swan song, All Nippon Airways brightens the skies by going all out with style for the last three A380s. Operating exclusively from Narita to Honolulu, these cute (and giant) sea turtle planes are considered the rarest A380s in the world.

Flying Honu Special Livery

All A380s are designed with a special livery that’s Hawaiian themed — a very popular destination for Japanese locals.

From left to right,

1. Meet “La” – an orange sea turtle that represents the Hawaiian sunset
2. Aloha “Lani” – a blue sea turtle that represents the Hawaiian sky
3. And finally happy “Kai” – an emerald sea turtle that represents the Hawaiian ocean

Booking

We got 2x lucky with the timing and availability of this booking. Virgin Atlantic (a niche partner of ANA) happened to have a 30% transfer bonus promotion with American Express.

Award availabilities (especially for partners) are extremely rare. On the return segment of my Yokohama trip, the happy “Kai” plane decided to gift Chai Bear the chance to finally fly the superjumbo sea turtle.

With the bonus, this makes the 40K AMEX points redemption by far the cheapest flight we’ve ever redeemed for premium international routes.

Sea Turtle “Kai” First Class

All Nippon Airways has its own separate check-in lounge exclusively for First Class passengers at Narita International Airport. And wow it was hard to contain my excitement when I entered to finally check-in to the “Flying Honu” plane.

At the lounge, you see it parked at our gate right before sunset. There it is… meet Kai the Sea Turtle plane!

Seat 2K

The First Class cabin is located upstairs at the front of the upper deck. The distinct difference between the Flying Honu and its newest ANA the “Suite” seat is the cabin lighting and the size of its entertainment screen.

To celebrate, we had two champagnes to choose from. Krug still obviously a clear winner!

Aloha, time to feast like Hawaiian Kings

After changing to my pajamas, the flight attendant surprised us with a friend next to our bed. It’s yours truly… the star of the show Kai the Sea Turtle!!! I think Chai Bear’s in love.

While Chai Bear’s sleeping, Kai the Turtle and I decided to have a tasting battle. Green tea (brew) vs. Matcha (whisk)

Kai the Sea Turtle is a party animal and decided to pop a mini Hibiki 17 before landing. A fun fact about this bottle is that it is now discontinued in Japan. So ironically, Hibiki 17s are now more sought after than Hibiki 21s due to its scarcity.

Overall, what an absolute treat to finally fly this plane. Since its inaugural flight, I was worried that ANA would permanently cancel the Flying Honu program during 2020. Defying all odds, these sea turtle planes are soaring back higher than ever. What an honor to fly this rare A380 plane.

It’s nice to meet you Kai the Turtle 🙂 hope to meet your friends La and Lani one day too.