Honda’s New Prelude - Taking Flight

Aerocreativ played a key role in bringing Honda’s striking “Unlimited Glide” campaign to life for the launch of the new 2026 Honda Prelude — combining automotive engineering, gliding and specialist aerial filming to create a launch story quite unlike the traditional car commercial.

The concept had a genuine connection to the Prelude itself. Honda development leader Tomoyuki Yamagami drew inspiration for the sixth-generation Prelude from childhood memories of flying a radio-controlled glider built by his grandfather. That influence developed into the philosophy of “Unlimited Glide”: creating a sports coupé with the smoothness, elegance and responsiveness of a modern glider.

To turn that philosophy into something audiences could actually see, Honda took the ambitious step of using the Prelude itself to launch a full-size glider.

At Annecy airfield in France, against the spectacular backdrop of the Alps, the 184PS Prelude e was fitted with a specially adapted tow hook and used to accelerate the glider along the runway and into the air helping transform Honda’s creative concept into a real aviation operation.

This is where Aerocreativ’s specialist aviation expertise came into its own.

Working within a complex environment involving a moving vehicle, a launching glider, aviation operations and a professional film production required careful coordination between the creative and flying teams. Aerocreativ helped enable the aviation elements of the project, bringing together the specialist knowledge and operational experience required to turn an ambitious creative idea into something that could be safely and effectively captured on camera.

Once airborne, the project went beyond simply recording the launch. Air-to-air filming allowed the Prelude story to move into the environment that had inspired the car in the first place — the sky. Capturing the glider in flight provided the campaign with sweeping aerial imagery that visually connected the shape, movement and philosophy of the aircraft with Honda's new sports coupé.

The resulting footage became part of Honda's wider Prelude content series, showing the car and glider moving together and bringing the pivotal “lift-off” moment to audiences across Europe. Honda described the production as creating high-impact visuals that showed the Prelude and glider working in harmony.

For Aerocreativ, the Honda Prelude project is another example of what can happen when creative ambition and specialist aviation expertise meet. The company specialises in bringing together aircraft, experienced operators, creative teams and the regulatory knowledge required to deliver unusual airborne concepts.

The Prelude campaign began with the simple idea of a car inspired by a glider. By putting a real glider behind the car — and then taking the cameras into the air — Honda, its creative partners and Aerocreativ turned that inspiration into reality.

A car launch on the ground became a story told in the sky.