Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
A VistaJet private jet, dubbed “The Football Era,” with the tail number 9H-VTD, thought by online sleuths to have Taylor Swift aboard, arrives at Los Angeles International Airport from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
FILE – Taylor Swift performs as part of the “Eras Tour” at the Tokyo Dome, on Feb. 7, 2024, in Tokyo. Swift’s last song will still be ringing in the ears of thousands of fans at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night, Feb. 10 when the singer is expected to rush to a private jet at Haneda airport that will take her on a time-zone-spanning journey to see her boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce, play in the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Toru Hanai, File)
Women pose for a selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A woman poses for a photo before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
People wait in line near a poster to take their pictures with, as others, right, react to their selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
People gather around Tokyo Dome before Taylor Swift’s concert in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
People wait in line to receive their reserved tickets before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A woman poses for a photo with a stuffed animal of a leopard before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. The Swift’s fan said a leopard is a character that appears in Swift’s song. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Women pose for a selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Women pose for a photo before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A VistaJet private jet, dubbed “The Football Era,” with the tail number 9H-VTD, thought by online sleuths to have Taylor Swift aboard, arrives at Los Angeles International Airport from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
A VistaJet private jet, dubbed “The Football Era,” with the tail number 9H-VTD, thought by online sleuths to have Taylor Swift aboard, arrives at Los Angeles International Airport from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
FILE – Taylor Swift performs as part of the “Eras Tour” at the Tokyo Dome, on Feb. 7, 2024, in Tokyo. Swift’s last song will still be ringing in the ears of thousands of fans at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night, Feb. 10 when the singer is expected to rush to a private jet at Haneda airport that will take her on a time-zone-spanning journey to see her boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce, play in the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Toru Hanai, File)
FILE – Taylor Swift performs as part of the “Eras Tour” at the Tokyo Dome, on Feb. 7, 2024, in Tokyo. Swift’s last song will still be ringing in the ears of thousands of fans at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night, Feb. 10 when the singer is expected to rush to a private jet at Haneda airport that will take her on a time-zone-spanning journey to see her boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce, play in the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Toru Hanai, File)
Women pose for a selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Women pose for a selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A woman poses for a photo before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A woman poses for a photo before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
People wait in line near a poster to take their pictures with, as others, right, react to their selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
People wait in line near a poster to take their pictures with, as others, right, react to their selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
People gather around Tokyo Dome before Taylor Swift’s concert in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
People gather around Tokyo Dome before Taylor Swift’s concert in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
People wait in line to receive their reserved tickets before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
People wait in line to receive their reserved tickets before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A woman poses for a photo with a stuffed animal of a leopard before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. The Swift’s fan said a leopard is a character that appears in Swift’s song. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A woman poses for a photo with a stuffed animal of a leopard before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. The Swift’s fan said a leopard is a character that appears in Swift’s song. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Women pose for a selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Women pose for a selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Women pose for a photo before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Women pose for a photo before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Will she make it in time? Intrepid flight trackers online seem to think so.
On social media, fans of Taylor Swift and aviation journalists believe they’ve identified Swift’s private jet, labeled “The Football Era.” It arrived from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to Los Angeles’ LAX airport just after 3:30 p.m. local time.
Odds were always high that a Super Bowl in Las Vegas would be wild. The Chiefs and 49ers — and Taylor Swift, of course — are a good bet to deliver. AP NFL writer Rob Maaddi has more.
Her transportation plans onward to Las Vegas, where her boyfriend, NFL star tight end Travis Kelce, will play in Sunday’s Super Bowl, have yet to be revealed.
Representatives for Swift and VistaJet, the world’s only global private aviation company, did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.
Swift’s last song was still ringing in the ears of thousands of fans at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night when the singer rushed to a private jet at Haneda airport, presumably embarking on an intensely scrutinized journey to see Kelce.
“We’re all gonna go on a great adventure,” Swift told the crowd earlier. She was speaking of the music, but it might also describe her race against time, which was to cross nine time zones and the international date line.
With a final bow at the end of her sold-out show, clad in a blue sequined outfit, the crowd screaming, strobe lights pulsing, confetti falling, Swift disappeared beneath the stage and her journey to the other side of the world began.
For weeks, scrutiny over Taylor Swift’s travel in private jets has been bubbling up on social media. But should the singer be the only one taking the heat? AP’s Natalia Gutiérrez has more.
Her expected trip to see Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas has fired imaginations, and speculation, for weeks.
“I hope she can return in time. It’s so romantic,” said office worker Hitomi Takahashi, 29, who bought matching Taylor Swift sweatshirts with her friend and was taking photos just outside the Tokyo Dome.
About an hour after the end of the concert, AP journalists were near Haneda’s private jet area when minivans drove up and someone went inside the gate area, as four to five people carrying large black umbrellas obstructed the view of the person.
There was plenty of evidence at the concert of the unique cultural phenomenon that is the Swift-Kelce relationship, a nexus of professional football and the huge star power of Swift. In addition to people wearing sequined dresses celebrating Swift, there were Kelce jerseys and hats and other Chiefs gear.
Some spent thousands of dollars to attend the pop superstar’s concerts this week.
“Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone,” Swift sang.
People wait in line near a poster to take their pictures with, as others, right, react to their selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
She won’t find that Sunday in Las Vegas when a sold-out crowd, not to mention millions around the world, will be watching her.
To call the worldwide scrutiny of Swift’s travels intense is an understatement.
Fans have tracked her jet. The planet-warming carbon emissions of her globe-trotting travels have been criticized. Officials have weighed in on her ability to park her jet at Las Vegas airports.
Even Japanese diplomats have gotten into the act. The Japanese Embassy in Washington posted on social media that she could make the Super Bowl in time, including in their statement three Swift song titles — “Speak Now”, “Fearless” and “Red.”
“If she departs Tokyo in the evening after her concert, she should comfortably arrive in Las Vegas before the Super Bowl begins,” it said.
Takahashi, the fan at the Tokyo Dome, was aware of the criticism Swift has faced about her private jets but said the singer was being singled out unfairly.
“Many other people are flying on business, and she is here for her work. She faces a bashing because she is famous and stands out,” Takahashi said.
Women pose for a selfie before Taylor Swift’s concert at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Swift has been crisscrossing the globe this week.
Before coming to Asia, she attended the Grammys in Los Angeles, winning her 14th Grammy and a record-breaking fourth Album of the Year award for “Midnights.” The show was watched by nearly 17 million people. She also made a surprise announcement that her next album is ready to drop in April.
Then the four concerts in Tokyo, and now the trip back to the States. She has followed Kelce for much of the Chiefs’ season.
Swift is expected to fly to Australia later this week to continue her tour.
“This week is truly the best kind of chaos,” she posted Wednesday on Instagram.
Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
