A Japan Airlines (JAL) special livery aircraft commemorating the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025 conducted its first international flight from Manila on Monday.

The Boeing 787-8 depicts the Expo's mascot, MyakuMyaku which is a “mysterious creature born from the unification of cells and water”.

According to the JAL website, its deployment is “aimed to introduce both domestic and international passengers to Expo 2025, encouraging visits not only to the exposition but also to various destinations throughout Japan”.

The plane bound for Narita left the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila at 10:08 am and is expected to arrive at 3:26 pm.

It arrived from Haneda Airport in Tokyo at 6:00 am.

The passengers praised its design.

Michael Morani, an elderly American who was boarding as part of a transfer flight to Boston, said he liked the design.

He was seated in a wheelchair and had a prosthetic left leg.

“I like it. I think it’s nice,” Morani said in an interview with The Daily Manila Shimbun.

Morani said he was living with his Filipina wife in the country but was flying to Boston for to visit.

“This is going to be a transfer because Japan has a large population of Japanese living in Boston. So they have a direct flight from Tokyo to Boston. And I grew up in Boston. So I’m headed back home just for a visit,” Morani said.

Rosalinda Liberato, who is boarding the plane as part of a transfer flight to Hawaii, said she finds the design attractive because it is partially red.

“It’s beautiful because it’s my favorite color,” Liberato said.

Liberato, who is heading home to Hawaii with her husband, said they only came to the Philippines to visit their son.

The JAL Myaku Myaku Jet boarded 184 passengers but has a seating capacity of 206, including 30 in business class and 176 in economy class.

The Osaka-Kansai Expo, an event where new technologies from around the world are shared, will be hosted in Yumeshima and it will be held from April 13 to October 13, 2025. Jaspearl Tan/DMS