Eva Airways : Introduces gudetama Jet Comfort Flights Relaxed Sanrio character brightens new plane, nose-to-tail

EVA Air is launching its latest specially painted Sanrio family aircraft with an exclusive gudetama Jet Comfort Flight theme today (Thursday, 24 Nov., 2016). Adding to its popular Hello Kitty and Sanrio-character services, EVA will operate the brightly liveried gudetama Comfort Flights on regional and short-range routes within Asia. Flight schedules, images and more information about the sunny new plane and EVA's other Sanrio-family aircraft are available at http://evakitty.evaair.com/en/.

The gudetama Jet Comfort Flight is an Airbus A321-200 configured for 184 passengers, eight in Business Class and 175 in Economy. It is EVA's first specially painted A321. To start, flight BR196 departs Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport at 15:20 (3:20 pm) and arrives at Tokyo's Narita International Airport at 19:20 (7:20 pm). Return flight BR195 leaves Narita at 20:20 and gets back to Taipei at 23:25 (11:25 pm).

'Since EVA and Sanrio launched our first generation of Hello Kitty Jets in 2005, our specially painted aircraft have been popular among our passengers all over the world,' said EVA Air President Derek Chen. 'To keep our themed flights fresh, lively and fun for our passengers, we chose superstar gudetama to join our fleet. Different from the sweet image of Hello Kitty, gudetama symbolizes a laidback, relaxed style of travel. With EVA, travel can be easy, comfortable, spontaneous and completely relaxing. It's a travel style that's perfect for busy people with hectic schedules. Our new gudetama plane also equips us to offer more variety and attract more passengers.'

Born in 2013, gudetama is an egg with arms and legs and one of Sanrio's youngest and most popular characters. Cute and easy-going, gudetama is always sunny-side-up on EVA's aircraft. The new livery captures the relaxing spirit of the bright yellow gudetama as he leisurely packs his sunglasses, camera, hat and bacon blanket into his bag, taking just one little break before he flies away on a memorable holiday. As he lazily brightens the length of the plane, he also decorates interiors and service items, creating a relaxing flying experience inside and out.

Onboard, flight attendants wear aprons embellished with the gudetama design and passengers use in-flight service items depicting the loveable character. Items include gudetama headrest covers, pillows, safety cards, beverage menus, disposable hand towels, tray mats, napkins, cups, meal boxes, food trays, chopstick wrappers, utensils, meals, snacks, floss picks, slippers and playing cards.

As a special treat, the airline is inviting passengers and fans to pre-order gudetama aircraft models and travel kits on the EVA Skyshop website after 24 Nov. and collect their items onboard when they fly. So that passengers can carry more of their fond gudetama Jet Comfort Flights memories home with them, EVA will roll out more gudetama products soon.

EVA's gudetama Jet Comfort Flight aircraft joins four Hello Kitty planes on regional flights from Taiwan to Japan, Korea and Mainland China. Each with its own unique theme, the specially painted short-haul aircraft are named the EVA Hello Kitty Magic, Apple, Global and Speed Puff Jets. The airline flies two Sanrio family-themed Boeing 777-300ERs on long-haul routes. It uses the Hello Kitty Hand-in-Hand Jet to serve Paris and operates the Hello Kitty Shining Star Jet on Houston flights.