Scoot gives Bangkok flyers the Pokemon experience in unique Pikachu Jet
In a bid to offer an extraordinary experience to passengers in the post-Covid-19 era, Singaporean low-cost airline Scoot operated its first Pokémon-themed Pikachu Jet, which landed at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport on Tuesday.
Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, is the first airline in the Asean region to launch an exclusive design in collaboration with The Pokémon Company, the Japan-based company responsible for the media franchise.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft was designed with yellow petals and leaves inspired by flower scents. It has a capacity of 375 seats, comprising 35 seats in ScootPlus business class and 340 seats in economy class.
Famous Pokémon characters, namely Pikachu, Pichu, Shaymin, Psyduck, Lapras, Celebi and Meganium, are depicted on the fuselage.
Inside the aircraft, passengers can look forward to eye-catching character prints on the seats and overhead cabins, as well as Pokémon-themed amenities and Japanese-inspired dishes.
Passengers can also purchase exclusive merchandise while making their booking on the Pikachu Jet or when onboard these flights, including lanyard, tote bag, and bucket hat.
"The Pokémon Air Adventures flight experience resonates with our fun and innovative brand DNA, and we are excited to bring smiles to travellers going into and out of Bangkok," Scoot chief commercial officer Calvin Chan said.
"Thailand remains one of Scoot’s important markets and we are committed to connecting travellers between Thailand and other parts of the world,” he added.
Scoot is initially operating its Pikachu Jet in five countries – Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea.
The next to-and-from flight on the Singapore-Bangkok route will be operated on March 15.
For more information about Scoot's Pikachu Jet, visit www.flyscoot .com/en/discover/escape-with-scoot/pokemon-pikachu-jet-flights.
Japan-based All Nippon Airways (ANA) unveiled the world's first Pokémon Jet on July 1, 1998, two years after the appearance of a Pokémon video game. As many as 10 Pokémon jets have been unveiled by ANA so far.
Other Japanese airlines that have unveiled their Pokémon jets since 2020 are: Solaseed Air (December 19, 2020), Skymark Airlines (June 21, 2021) and Air Do (November 19, 2021).
Scoot became the first non-Japanese airline to introduce a Pokémon Jet on July 17 last year, followed by China Airlines (September 30) and T'way Air (December 28).
Pokémon video games are developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and the Pokémon Company under the Pokémon media franchise.
The monsters, created by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori, first showed up in 1996 in Game Boy handheld consoles in Japan as Pocket Monsters Red and Green, before going international as Pokémon Red and Blue.
The main series of role-playing video games (RPGs), referred to as the "core series" by their developers, have starred in each generation of Nintendo handhelds with different Pokémon, storylines and characters.
While the main series were developed by Game Freak, several other companies have developed spinoffs encompassing other genres like action role-playing, puzzles, fighting and digital pet games.
Pokémon is said to be the largest media franchise, with successful anime series, films and merchandise, with spinoff games like Pokémon Go having crossed 1 billion downloads worldwide. As of March 2022, the series had sold over 440 million units worldwide.
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