If the “Kung Fu Panda” movies are a must-see around your house, wait until you get a look at this Boeing 787 Dreamliner that landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Tuesday.
The jet, from Hainan Airlines, touched down at Sea-Tac and it’s the first time the specially designed livery has been seen in the United States. A collaboration between the airline, the Boeing Co. and DreamWorks Animation, the airliner features several characters from the popular animated film franchise, including Po, Monkey, Tigress, Viper, Mantis and more.
The 1st @HainanAirlines #KungFuPanda themed 787 #Dreamliner makes its official US debut! Stay tuned for more coming soon! pic.twitter.com/4ioVAx5mJ8
— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) October 18, 2016
The Dreamliner was carrying a group of nearly 100 students from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Wash., who were returning home from an 11-day trip to China. Chinese President Xi Jinping invited the students in September 2015 after he toured Lincoln as part of a state visit to the Puget Sound region. During that visit, he shared with the students that he hoped they would “know China better” as a result of the trip, and that “hopefully you will fall in love with China.”
According to a news release, the students visited Hong Kong, Fuzhou (capitol of Fujian Province), Chengdu (capitol of Sichuan Province, home of the giant pandas) and Beijing on their tour.
In-flight entertainment for Lincoln HS included Chinese calligraphy with the #HainanAirlines crew. #AbesinChina pic.twitter.com/DrUwfTYajS
— Drew Mikkelsen (@drewmikkelsenk5) October 18, 2016
Panda Dreamliner. Good to be home. #AbesInChina pic.twitter.com/Hu8Gx94GyJ
— Drew Mikkelsen (@drewmikkelsenk5) October 18, 2016
Later this week, Hainan is expected to announcer the winners of a contest in which wannabe designers were asked to come up with their own “Kung Fu Panda” livery concepts for the airliner.
The top-rated design will be painted on a Hainan Dreamliner that flies between China and North America. The designer will win two round-trip, business-class tickets to China from any North American city served by Hainan, plus one week’s luxury hotel accommodations in China. The runner-up will get two round-trip tickets to China.
