On July 16, ANA held an event at Narita Airport to commemorate the 40th anniversary of its Los Angeles route.
ANA’s international service began with the Narita–Guam route, which launched on March 3, 1986, followed by the Narita–Los Angeles route on July 16 of that year and the Narita–Washington, D.C., route on July 26. The airline is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary.
The network has now expanded to 55 routes serving 40 cities (including 19 routes serving 19 cities via Narita), and it is still fresh in our memory that Milan, Stockholm, and Istanbul were added between December 2024 and February 2025 (all departing from Haneda).
Although the scheduled ceremony was canceled that day due to delays in arriving flights, the area in front of Gate 56 in Terminal 1 was bustling with activity, thanks to the installation of a photo spot recreating the gate decorations from 40 years ago, staff wearing the uniforms from that era, and the appearance of three mascot characters (Soracchi, Unari-kun, and Kutan).
ANA’s uniforms are currently in their 10th generation for flight attendants and their 7th generation for ground staff, but back in 1986, surprisingly, the ground staff wore bright red double-breasted suits (the 4th generation), designed by Jun Ashida.
Although ANA is strongly associated with the color blue, in the 1970s it incorporated yellow and orange into its flight attendant uniforms. As for ground staff, the second generation (1972–1978) and the third generation (1978–1982), and the fourth generation (1982–1990), red was actively incorporated (primarily for winter uniforms).
With staff members wearing those historic uniforms waving goodbye and holding banners, Flight NH6 blocked out at 5:57 p.m. With 198 passengers (plus one infant) on board the 215-seat aircraft, it took off for Los Angeles.
© Source travel watch