Qantas have announced the names of their forthcoming Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet. The airline held a competition asking the Australian public to suggest names for the aircraft and these were whittled down to a number of finalists.
This list comprised of twenty choices which I explained in a post while the competition was running. So, without further ado, let’s have a look at the winning choices.
Winning Names
An article by Robyn Ironside and published by news.com.au announced the news on 20 June 2017. The eight winners are listed below.
Skippy – Australian slang for a kangaroo, probably made famous by a late 1960’s television programme of the same name featuring an intelligent kangaroo.
Quokka – a really cute and small marsupial which you can see in the featured image at the top of this post.
Boomerang – a weapon used by the Aboriginal people of Australia which comes back to you when you throw it.
Waltzing Matilda – a famous Australian song, often called Australia’s unofficial national anthem, which almost did become the anthem when the country was selecting one.
The Great Barrier Reef – a coral reef off the coast of Queensland and a famous tourist destination.
Uluru – previously referred to as Ayers Rock, it is a large sandstone rock formation in Australia’s Northern Territory and a popular tourist destination.
Dreamtime – part of Aboriginal lore and storytelling referring to times in the past.
Great Southern Land – Australia, of course!
Overall Thoughts
I am really quite happy with the choices as nothing I really hated is included in the above. I would have loved Cooee to have been included though. Mainly because it originally adorned a Qantas C-Class Empire Flying Boat back in the 1930s.
Happily none of the people were selected. I am glad about this as the Airbus A380 fleet names at Qantas are people. It’s also probably good that an aircraft is not being called Vegemite after the popular spread.
The names represent Australian things. These will be a happy sight at the gate for weary Australians wanting to get home. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image via news.com.au
