Ilyushin IL62 Aeroflot with JAL logo and Japan Air Lines titles

Product description

Quality metal-plastic model of the Ilyushin IL62 Aeroflot aircraft. The model is packaged together with a base and landing gear.

During the cold war the Soviet Union kept its airspace closed for western airlines. This forced flights between Europe and the Far East to make far detours and make a fuel stop. Most airlines chose to make a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska, US.

In order to offer travelers the opportunity to fly faster to the Far East, KLM and JAL Japan Air Lines offered travelers the opportunity to fly with Aeroflot. The Russian national carrier flew from Amsterdam to Moscow and then on to Tokyo. The flights were carried out with the four-engined Ilyushin Il-62. Although the pilots were provided by Aeroflot, the cabin crew on the flights was partly provided by KLM and JAL.
It was unusual in the 1970s for two societies to have such cooperation, let alone a Western society and the national society of the Soviet Union. To celebrate the collaboration, in addition to the Aeroflot logo, the KLM or JAL logo was also affixed to the Il-62's. This makes KLM and JAL two of the few Western companies that ever had its logo on a plane built in the Soviet Union.