On September 29, 2024, JAL will put into service “DREAM SHO JET,” an Airbus A350-900 in a special livery featuring the MLB star, the company announced on September 27, 2024. The logojet will be part of the airline’s “DREAM MILES PASS” project.
“DREAM SHO JET’s” first revenue flight will be JL503 from Tokyo Haneda to Sapporo New Chitose on September 29, 2024. From then on, the A350-900 registered JA08XJ will operate domestic flights around Japan in the special livery until around March 2026. In addition to the livery, JAL will also use special MLB-themed cups onboard flights operated by the aircraft.
According to the airline, the livery “represents the shared aspirations of Shohei Ohtani, JMB members, and JAL.”
The logojet serves as a symbol of the “DREAM MILES PASS” project as part of which JAL will provide 892,440km worth of tickets “to the destinations of young people who need to travel to realize their dreams.” According to the statement, “JAL has focused on the fact that Shohei Ohtani … has traveled approximately 892,440 km – equivalent to circling the Earth 22 times – since entering Hanamaki Higashi High School, achieving various dreams along the way.”
The Ohtani-themed aircraft follows the airline’s previous partnership with a Japanese MLB star from 2003. Back then, JAL “[enlisted] the aid of their U.S. Major League baseball image character – New York Yankees’ power hitter Hideki Matsui – in a summer campaign to attract Japanese domestic air travelers that features two aircraft decorated with the famous slugger’s portrait.”
