Qantas unveiled a special-edition livery on its newest Boeing 787-9 dreamliner today showcasing how its signature flying kangaroo logo has evolved over the years.
The new aircraft is adorned with what Qantas calls a special Centenary livery (Qantas is set to turn 99 in November) in an effort to celebrate the Australian carrier entering its 100th year of operations.
The new paint job features each Qantas logo since its 1920 founding in outback Queensland through to today, along with the newly unveiled “Qantas100” imprint that will run across its Centenary celebrations. The livery shows how the first logo, which initially read “Qantas Ltd” in black, eventually evolved into the Qantas’ flying kangaroo symbol.
A new Dreamliner
This is Qantas’ tenth Dreamliner. Registered as VH-ZNJ, the new plane is named “Longreach”. The airline says this is a nod to the Queensland town that was “integral to the national carrier’s beginnings, its role in conquering the tyranny of distance and the Longreach series of retiring 747-400 jumbo jets”.
Qantas says the aircraft will undergo a series of delivery test flights in Seattle before handover from Boeing next month. While Qantas has unveiled the new paint job, the jet will not enter service until mid-November.
The Qantas Boeing 787-9 has a total of 236 seats with 42 business, 28 premium economy and 166 economy seats.
Project Sunrise
The aircraft will be flown on the second of Qantas’ Project Sunrise research flights, flying non-stop from London to Sydney and replicating the journey of the first B747-400 delivery 30 years ago. It will then enter normal commercial service with Qantas International.
Qantas announced Project Sunrise earlier this year which will see the airline operating three research flights to test ways to improve the health and wellbeing of passengers and crew on ultra long-haul flights.
Qantas' past paint jobs
In 2016, Qantas received its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. In preparation for the event, the airline revealed a new livery with an updated kangaroo logo and typography designed by Marc Newson in partnership with Houston Group on an Airbus A330-300.
Last year in February, the airline’s fourth Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft wore an Indigenous artwork livery when it entered service on the airline’s domestic and international routes. The design was based on a 1991 painting by Anmatyerre artist, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, whose name was also adopted for the aircraft.
