Qantas has revealed the Aussie Icon names that will be used on the first 8 of its Boeing 787 aircraft, The names were chosen following a competition to suggest names for the aircrafr, The competition asked entrants to auggest Aussie Icons that could be used for aircratf names.
Qantas received more than 60,000 suggestions, with 45,000 votes cast in selecting the names of the new aircraft.
The final names selected for the first 8 dreamliners are:
- Great Barrier Reef
- Boomerang
- Skippy
- Waltzing Matilda
- Uluru
- Great Southern Land
- Quokka
- Dreamtime
It is an interesting selection of names, from diverse sources. I think it is notable that they have chosen not to go with any names of people. There were a few in the published shorlist, however, they have not made the cut, at least for the first batch of 787s.
Qantas has not revealed the name of the first aircraft – we will have to wait until it is delivered to find out. After that, the specific ordering names has not yet been determined.
Naming Aircraft
Naming aircraft has long been a feature of the Qantas fleet. Previous themes used on aircraft have included
- Boeing 707 and 747 – Australian capital cities and major centres
- Boeing 737-400 – Australian birds
- Boeing 737-800 – Australian towns
- Airbus A330 – Australian valleys
- Airbus A380 – Australian aviation pioneers.