As part of the project, two aircraft—the “Silver (Metallic Silver)” and “Gold (Metallic Gold)”—were created, both featuring the metallic colors that symbolize Mr. Sorayama. As the first of these, the “STARLUX AIRSORAYAMA SILVER,” with its entire fuselage finished in silver, has already begun operations.
On July 12, STARLUX Airlines unveiled the special aircraft from its collaborative project with artist Hajime Sorayama, “STARLUX AIRSORAYAMA,” for the first time in Japan at Narita International Airport.
The first flight from Taipei, Flight JX800, arrived at Narita. Chairman Zhang personally piloted the aircraft.
On that day, Flight JX800 from Taoyuan, Taipei, to Narita made its debut at Narita Airport. It departed Taoyuan at 8:43 a.m. Taipei time and arrived at Narita at 12:43 p.m.
Unfortunately, the skies around Narita were overcast, so I wasn’t able to fully appreciate the true brilliance of the silver aircraft—which normally reflects sunlight so beautifully—and While that was a bit of a disappointment, as soon as the aircraft—featuring the chrome-plated special paint scheme synonymous with Mr. Sora—appeared, radiating a glossy, metallic sheen, the sound of camera shutters echoed from all around Gate 62 at Terminal 2.
On this historic inaugural flight, Chairman Zhang—the founder of StarLux Airlines and a current A350 captain—personally took the controls as captain and piloted the aircraft.
This is because, at the very beginning of the project, Chairman Zhang and Mr. Sorayama had made a promise that “the completed aircraft would be flown by Chairman Zhang himself to deliver it to Mr. Sorayama,” and this flight effectively fulfilled that promise.
At Narita Airport, Mr. Kuzuyama personally greeted the aircraft and watched over its arrival; in fact, we were able to speak with him—who had actually rushed to the airport ahead of time—just before Flight JX800 landed.
In fact, Mr. Sorayama himself said this would be the first time he’d see the finished prototype in person, and it was striking to see how eagerly he was awaiting its arrival, remarking, “I’m excited to see the ‘work’ myself.”
“I heard the cabin will be filled with ‘Sora-yama’ elements, like amenities and the safety video—do you have any particular highlights to recommend?” I asked. “I’m not really interested in the cabin. Just the exterior. Once you’re on board, you can’t see it anyway (laughs).” He brushed off my question with a mix of humor—typical of a master—and a shy side, but the preview exhibition of the in-flight-exclusive amenities set up in front of Gate 62 defied his words in the best possible way; just looking at them was enough to get my heart racing.
The in-flight services and limited-edition amenities, which will be fully launched on October 1, were all designed under the supervision of Mr. Kuyama. They feature a unified, futuristic color scheme based on “silver”—the concept behind the aircraft’s design—and “gold,” which will be introduced in the future.
In addition to the boarding passes featured in the preview exhibition, name tags, paper cups, and paper napkins will also be specially designed. Furthermore, limited-edition amenity kits will be provided for Economy Class and Premium Economy Class passengers on long-haul routes. Furthermore, on actual flights, the airline plans to serve a limited-edition original cocktail called the “AIRSORAYAMA Special — Chrome Sky.”
© Source travel watch