In anticipation of December’s Christmas, the official Santa Claus, recognized by the Santa Claus Foundation of Finland, arrived at Narita Airport on November 29 on a Finnair flight.
Finnair has been the official airline for Santa Claus for over 40 years since 1983, supporting Santa’s global travels. This marks the third consecutive year Santa has visited Japan on Finnair flights following the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2022 and 2023.
▲ Santa Claus arrives at Narita Airport on flight AY73
Santa traveled from his hometown in Rovaniemi, Northern Finland, to Helsinki before boarding Finnair’s AY73 flight to Tokyo/Narita (Airbus A350-900, registration number: OH-LWR), departing at 5:59 PM local time on November 28. After a southbound route that passed over the Black Sea and Central Asia, Santa arrived at 2:16 PM on the 19th, making his grand entrance from the R1 door, not typically used for boarding and deplaning, waving and exclaiming “Merry Christmas!”
▲ Finnair Airbus A350-900 Business Class ‘AirLounge’
While reindeer are Santa’s traditional travel companions, he left them at home to rest up for Christmas, opting instead to travel to Japan via Finnair. He reflected on the approximately 13-hour flight with a chuckle, saying it was “faster than my sleigh pulled by reindeer.” Onboard, Santa enjoyed the comforts of business class, saying, “It was comfortable and I slept well, arriving refreshed and looking forward to meeting everyone in Japan.”
Subsequently, Santa appeared in Terminal 2, interacting with families and obliging travelers with photos.
Santa will stay in Japan until December 5, participating in greeting events in locations such as Tokyo’s Shibuya, Chubu International Airport, and Osaka’s Umeda. He will return home on the Osaka/Kansai to Helsinki AY68 flight on December 5. Additionally, Santa will visit the UK, Germany, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Korea, attending similar events.
▲ A girl prepares gifts for Santa
▲ Finnair cabin crew handing out gifts to visitors
▲ Moomin plush toys handed out to children and postcards and stickers for adults
Notice
This article was generated using automatic translation by GPT-4 API. The translation may not be accurate.
