National Palace Museum takes flight with Tigerair
By Shelley Shan / Staff Reporter
Taiwanese airlines are turning to culture and cuisine to enhance their flying experience, with Tigerair Taiwan unveiling a National Palace Museum-themed aircraft ahead of its 12th anniversary this weekend.
Tigerair yesterday announced a three-year collaboration with the museum to decorate the fuselage of one of its aircraft with renowned Chinese artworks and artifacts.
The design incorporates the mountain contours of the museum’s Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains painting, and well-known artifacts such as the Jadeite Cabbage, the Meat-shaped Stone and the Mao Gong Ding bronze vessel. Other objects featured were a carved olive-pit boat, the Jade Dragon, the Jade Cat and the Doucai Chicken Cup. It also includes six headrest covers featuring museum artifacts.
A National Palace Museum-themed Tigerair Taiwan aircraft is pictured in an undated photograph.
Photo courtesy of Tigerair Taiwan
Tigerair plans to reimagine the iconic Along the River During the Qingming Festival as “Taiwan Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” incorporating landmarks from cities served by the airline.
The redesigned artwork would appear on boarding passes and service items, while characters including Tigerair’s mascot, Hu Jiang, and the museum’s mascot, Little Jade, would be incorporated into the cabin decor.
The aircraft’s exterior is expected to be completed by mid-November and begin service by the end of the year. Cabin upgrades are expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year.
National Palace Museum Director Hsiao Tsung-huang (蕭宗煌) said the partnership is part of the museum’s effort to bring its collections to international audiences.
The museum holds about 700,000 artifacts and has been involved in commercial collaborations.
The airline is offering passengers a 10 percent discount on admission to the museum’s Taipei and southern branches, as well as select museum store products, through the end of next year.
The move comes as Taiwan’s carriers increasingly use food and cultural partnerships to differentiate their in-flight offerings.
China Airlines said it would from next month begin serving dishes from New York-based Taiwanese restaurant WENWEN on flights departing from Los Angeles and Ontario.
Economy-class options include braised pork rice, while premium economy passengers would be offered seafood and pork sticky rice. Business-class passengers would receive a mala mochi “cat ear” snack, with additional dishes rotating seasonally.
Starlux Airlines has unveiled its fourth quarter in-flight menu, featuring seasonal ingredients, Taiwanese flavors and dishes tailored to its destinations, including a fall and winter menu from Michelin-starred Taiwanese restaurant Genji.
Starlux also announced that it would launch codeshare flights with American Airlines, connecting its transpacific routes with the latter’s flights to 20 major North American cities, including Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, Miami, Dallas and Las Vegas.
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