A rare chance to add a touch of first class to your home.
Frequent fliers on ANA might be familiar with their online shopping site A-Style. Here, customers can purchase a range of clothing, food, luggage and more using either money or air-miles. Also, inside this catalog are some unique souvenirs such as key chains made from the same acrylic material as airplane windows.
These kinds of specialty items have been particularly popular and inspired requests for ANA to sell some even more unique and authentic airplane-related items. The airline responded by establishing a SorANAka store on the Yahoo! Auctions website.
▼ The name comes from the Japanese phrase “sora naka” which refers to bringing “the sky inside” your home and can’t be spelled without “ANA”
This SorANAka section of the popular online auction site will be ANA’s dedicated location for selling one-of-a-kind and other rare items like authentic airplane parts that have not been mass produced for retail to the general public. The items will go under the virtual hammer and a part of the proceeds will be donated to charity, with the first round of two items running from 21 to 26 September.
First, for those who can’t get enough of first class seating on airplanes, there’s now a chance to enjoy it 24-7 with the ANA Original International First Class Mock Up Seat. This lovingly recreated seat has all the trappings of the real thing but will be delivered to the doorstep of one lucky bidder.
This seat is used to verify comfort and functionality during research and development projects and is also used as a demonstration model when a new feature is announced to the media. Since it is only a mock-up it is not built exactly to specification, but ANA says it comes quite close. Its dimensions are 115 by 242 by 131 centimeters (45 by 95 by 52 inches) and it weighs in at about 400 kilograms (882 pounds), so make sure you have the space before placing any bids.
One other setback is that there’s no built-in power supply, but if you’ve put in the time and money to win this auction, running an extension cord into it shouldn’t be a problem. On the other hand, if a home DIY project is what you’re craving, then the second item might be right up your alley.
It’s an actual window and frame used in a Boeing 777-300ER and comes with all the fittings and gaskets to install it into a real aircraft. However, you’d have to be pretty handy with a socket wrench to somehow install it somewhere in your home.
The window measures 64.5 centimeters (25 inches) high and 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) wide and is the same kind used in business and first class sections. It’s not really clear what someone is supposed to do with this, but a chili cheese nacho serving dish springs to mind. You could also strap it to the side of your head so it always seems like you’re in an airplane, though at 3.2 kilograms (7 pounds) it might lead to neck problems pretty fast.
Anyone interested in either of these very unique items from the aviation industry ought to check out the SorANAka section of Yahoo! Auctions Japan when it opens. The auction begins at 10 a.m. on 21 September and will run until sometime between 9 and 10 p.m. on 26 September. Bidding will begin at 7,730 yen (US$70.57) for the seat and 730 yen ($6.66) for the window.
This is just the beginning, however, and ANA has already given everyone a sneak peak at their next auction, which will take place sometime in October. Aviation fans will be competing to get a hold of either an international business class seat mock-up, 1:25 scale model of an ANA Boeing 747-400, and a JA8094 aircraft identification plate.
It’s just another way that ANA continues to serve customers on land. In fact, if you’re the lucky bidder of a first class seat, you can also enroll in a course from ANA on how to sit in it without offending anyone.
Source: SorANAka, ANA, A-Style
Images: ANA
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