Japan Airlines Co. launched on Friday a special jetliner with Hello Kitty, Japan's popular feline character, on the plane's body to support a campaign to raise awareness about cervical cancer and its prevention, the airline said.

The "Hellosmile Project" campaign was launched by a Japanese radio station Tokyo FM to raise awareness about the illness, from which about 3,500 women die annually and continues to increase among young women in Japan.

Sanrio Co.'s Hello Kitty is used as a mascot character for various campaigns related to the disease in Japan.

At a ceremony held at Haneda airport in Tokyo, Mitsuaki Suzuki, a director of the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said, "We want more women to know that (cervical cancer) can be prevented with vaccines and medical check-ups."

The special airplane with the orange-colored Hello Kitty logo painted on the body will fly on domestic routes, including those connecting Haneda and Sapporo and Fukuoka, until December.