ANA’s famous panda-themed jet, JA606A, will enter its major maintenance phase—which happens once every eight years—starting next week on December 9. Afterwards, it will be repainted back into the standard livery, so if you have the chance to see it in the next couple of days, be sure to take a photo for the memories!

ANAのFLY！パンダジェット（JA606A）が12月9日で運航終了。約8年毎に行われる重整備の塗装更新によるもので、今後はANAの通常塗装へ。 pic.twitter.com/IbOb5nlNN5

— 月刊エアライン編集部 (@ikarosairline) December 5, 2014

I found two shots I took myself on Flickr to share with everyone.

This one was taken at Narita Airport

And this one at the new Hong Kong airport

It looks like I never managed to get a photo of it in flight—what a permanent regret.

According to a report by a Japanese website, the aircraft type of JA606A “FLY! Panda” is the 767-300ER. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of ANA’s routes to China, it entered service with the panda livery starting July 25, 2007. This airframe was manufactured on July 6, 2002, with 35 Business Class seats and 214 Economy Class seats. It is equipped with GE-manufactured CF-6-80C2B6F engines. As of December 5 this year, it has flown a total of 24,202 hours and 27 minutes across 6,607 flights.

The name “FLY! Panda” was chosen from over 6,000 submissions by Japanese elementary school students through a public poll. During the initial operation of the aircraft, items such as headrests, paper cups, chopstick sleeves, napkins, and food bags inside the cabin all featured dedicated panda designs.

The flight schedule for the final days of FLY! Panda is as follows: December 6 NH186 Haneda (22:35) → Honolulu (10:45) NH181 Honolulu (12:00) → Narita (Next day 16:15)

December 7 NH1083 Narita (17:40) → Taipei Taoyuan (20:55) NH1084 Taipei Taoyuan (09:15) → Narita (13:10)

December 8 NH959 Narita (14:05) → Shanghai Pudong (16:30) NH960 Shanghai Pudong (17:25) → Narita (21:00)

December 9 NH905 Narita (10:30) → Beijing (13:40) NH906 Beijing (14:50) → Narita (19:15)

I saw a great panda photo on the Facebook page “Aviation@NET 網際飛行” . The location was at the Songshan Airport Runway threshold, Binjiang Street Lane 180. I have specifically obtained the owner’s permission to repost it here for everyone to enjoy: <img src=https://scontent-a-nrt.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/s720x720/1381577_997693663577626_2550326684408627425_n.jpg?oh=bfb11becd139371d273d4210f28961be&oe=550FAB21>

End

Postscript December 10, 2014 According to this Weibo post, ANA held a farewell ceremony for the Flying Panda in Beijing on December 9, and JA606A has officially entered maintenance status.