A little after 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 31, customers began to gather one after another at the domestic check-in counters on the south side of the arrival lobby at Narita Airport's Terminal 2. The destination of the "Sky Travel Autumn Night Sky Blue Moon Flight" is the sky. This charter flight aims to take passengers on a tour of the Japanese night sky while enjoying moon viewing in the sky.
This day in particular was a blue moon night, which occurs once every three years. It refers to two full moons in one month, and it is said that seeing one brings happiness. In a time when it is difficult to travel abroad casually, we planned this event to give our customers a taste of travel, even if only a little.
Handmade items and heartfelt hospitality
After checking in at the manned counter, a ground staff member will stamp your handmade passport, which you will be given as a travel guide. Thorough infection prevention measures are in place, including disinfection and temperature checks at various points, and you will be asked to submit a health check sheet.
The signage and panels specially made for this day were handcrafted by the staff.
The boarding pass was placed in a card holder handmade by the ground staff, and a ballpoint pen and a questionnaire were also tucked into the folder handed out with it.
At the boarding gate, we offered a service where attendees could take commemorative photos holding a special LED-illuminated panel made by our mechanics. We also handed out photo holders specially made for this flight. You could choose your favorite color.
We were taken to the aircraft by bus. The aircraft we were boarding was a Boeing 767-300ER. In front of the stairs, cabin attendants welcomed us and took photos with us.
When you board, you will be given a keychain with "Sora Tabi Blue Moon Flight" engraved on it, made of a metal that is also used in aircraft parts. This keychain is also a special item made by the mechanic with a serial number. There are only eight of them that are blue.
In addition, the seats are equipped with amenity kits from the Parisian brand Maison Kitsuné, which are usually only available in business class on long-distance flights. By the way, in business class, kits from the Italian brand Etro are available exclusively for first class.
The plane was also decorated with Halloween decorations to welcome us. Then, at the scheduled time, the plane slowly left the terminal, being towed by a towing tractor.
Taking off towards the autumn clear sky. The flight number is "Yoroshiku Night View."
"Thank you very much for joining Japan Airlines' Sky Travel Autumn Night Sky Blue Moon Flight today. Today's flight is JL4981 (Yoroshiku Night View) so that you can enjoy a wonderful night flight. We hope to help you create wonderful memories."
The approximately three-hour flight begins with an announcement from the chief purser. At takeoff, the entire staff raises a banner and a cargo trailer spins around to see us off. The plane points its nose toward the runway, increases engine power, and takes off with a roar. We turn the rudder toward the clear autumn sky as the sun starts to set. We enjoy a short flight.
"Thank you very much for joining us today for the 'Sky Travel Autumn Night Sky Blue Moon Flight'. Today's flight route will be a heart-shaped flight. We will pass through Komoro City, Nagano Prefecture, and Tosa City, Kochi Prefecture, and you can enjoy the night view on an ocean flight. Today's moonrise is scheduled for just before 4:00 p.m., and sunset is scheduled for around 5:30 p.m."
Captain Nakamura's in-flight announcement rings out, and the plane gradually gains altitude while the autumn leaves of the Yatsugatake Mountains can be seen to the right.
Enjoy the stunning view during dinner time.
With Lake Suwa in view, the plane circles towards the Sea of Japan. In the distance, you can see the silhouette of Mt. Fuji with the setting sun overhead.
We eventually reach Toyama Bay, then turn southwest and follow the coastline through Ishikawa and Fukui prefectures and on through the Hokuriku region. Looking out the window, we can see the beautiful gradation of the deep blue of the ocean stretching out along the water's surface and the bright crimson of the sky.
On board, the international flight meals were served one by one. The menu for this day was Western food, supervised by Chef Saki Yamamoto of the Conrad Tokyo.
The beer that accompanies dinner is "Blue Moon," an American craft beer specially prepared for this evening. It is light-bodied with a hint of coriander and orange peel, and goes perfectly with the white fish main dish.
The moon was bright and large when seen from an altitude of 10,000 meters.
Looking outside the plane, I could see Wakasa Bay. The crimson color of the sky deepened, and the sun soon sank into the Sea of Japan. After the magic hour, when the sky glowed purple, the stars began to twinkle. As I was enjoying my after-meal coffee, I suddenly found myself over Shikoku. With a view of the Akashi Strait, the plane soon flew out of Shikoku into the Pacific Ocean.
"We have received permission from air traffic control and will now begin circling."
After Captain Nakamura's announcement, the plane circled several times off the coast of Cape Muroto in Kochi Prefecture. By this time, the moon was far above the horizon, shining brightly and round. In the clear autumn air, it looked even larger than it did on the ground.
After dusk, the cabin lights are turned off during the flight. The moon shines brightly and round, creating a spectacular sight worthy of being called a blue moon.
The plane headed east along the Pacific coast and eventually landed at Narita Airport. After about three and a half hours of flight, the cabin was filled with applause.
Once you disembark as instructed, you will be greeted by staff at the exit, who will see you off. You will be given a bottle of Blue Moon as a souvenir.
We made the charter flight a reality, transcending departmental boundaries.
After the entire staff sees off the guests, the main people in charge look back on the project.
Horioka: "The first flight was a flight to view the starry sky. In this world, even though many people want to travel abroad, they can't. We planned this flight to be bright, fun, and to give people the feeling of going abroad. It was run by volunteers from our employees, but we didn't expect it to be so well received, and we received a lot of cooperation this time as well."
Masayo Horioka of the Route Business Strategy Department, who was in charge of planning the plan, said: "The plan started with a show of hands, and we gathered ideas across departmental boundaries and decided on the content by trial and error. Yukiko Niwa of JALPAK, who was in charge of planning and selling the plan as a travel package, looks back on the plan as follows:
Niwa: "We first heard about the first round of plans in August. As a travel agency, we had heard from many customers that they wanted to go on trips, but we were worried about whether they would actually participate. However, seeing how passionately JAL was working on it, we at JALPAK felt even more strongly that we wanted to make it a great event."
Staff bring ideas together to create handmade hospitality
With this in mind, it was decided to hold the "Sora Tabi Starry Sky Flight" on September 26th. Toshihiro Motomura from the Maintenance Department is one of the people who has been involved in the project since the previous one.
Motomura: "Each department was asked to think of something they could do. We gathered ideas within our departments and came up with ideas that were feasible and would leave an impact. Specifically, we made handmade message boards, key chains, photo frames, photo books, and container decorations. We also maintained and cleaned the equipment we were using behind the scenes. We selected aircraft with the fewest problems, and even test-ran the engines the day before. We also polished the inside and outside of the aircraft until it sparkled. This morning, we were wiping the windows with a high-altitude work vehicle."
Thanks to all of our efforts, the event was almost fully booked. For the second event, we have further refined the plan.
Horioka: "The idea came from within the company: to have people see the blue moon, which can be seen on October 31st."
Saturdays are a great day for many people to participate. The "Sky Travel Autumn Night Sky Blue Moon Flight" was decided to take place on October 31st, and preparations were made at a rapid pace despite the short preparation time. Nanae Kaburagi, who is in charge of the domestic flight line at Narita Airport, looks back on the event.
Kaburagi: "Both last time and this time, we solicited ideas from the staff in charge of domestic flights at Narita Airport. Since we had the opportunity, we made preparations while thinking about ways to make it as feasible as possible. For example, with international travel not possible, we thought, 'Why not give people a simulated experience of immigration?' and so we made immigration stamps on handmade passport leaflets."
The text and design on the leaflets were also handcrafted by the ground staff. The decorations and motifs used were blue roses called "Blue Moon," whose flower meaning is "dreams come true." This is a message to our customers, but also the sentiment shared by the JAL staff. Molson Coors Japan Co., Ltd. also kindly provided America's number one craft beer, "Blue Moon," for passengers to enjoy on board and as souvenirs, which perfectly matched the theme of this event, adding even more color to the charter. It seems that the planning of the charter flight was stimulating for the JAL staff as well.
We are currently planning the third and subsequent installments. Please look forward to the next one.
Horioka: "I'd love to continue with the third and fourth editions. It might be interesting to try charter flights proposed by airport developers."
Motomura: "In anticipation of the third and subsequent releases, we are preparing a mass production system for key chains. In fact, we had been making key chains by hand until the day before, so we are considering designs in anticipation of mass production."
Niwa: "This is a great project, so I'd like to work hard with everyone. It would be a shame to end it here, and it's full of the passion of our employees."
Kaburagi: "Even on the last charter flight, even though there were no scheduled flights, the in-charge staff at the counter all looked like they were having fun. They're all staff who love customer service and chose this job, so it was quite moving. I'd like to cooperate again next time."
Although this was a retrospective interview, discussions about the next event have already begun. You may not be familiar with charter flights that return to the departure point, but you will be impressed by them more than you can imagine. Please look forward to the next event that our staff will be working hard to come up with.
We'll take you behind the scenes of JAL's work, including inside stories on the introduction of the A350 and the development of in-flight meal menus.
The contents published are accurate at the time of publication and are subject to change.
