Qantas has given its third Boeing 787-9 a distinctly West Australian flavour as the airline counts down to the start of nonstop flights between Perth and London.
The oneworld alliance member said on Friday the third of eight 787-9s on firm order would be named Quokka, which is a native animal most commonly found on Rottnest Island off the coast of Perth.
Quokka, registration VH-ZNC, joins Great Southern Land (VH-ZNA) and Waltzing Matilda (VH-ZNB) that are already in the Qantas fleet.
“Our direct flights between Europe and Australia start in March, so naming our third Dreamliner after a native animal unique to WA seems very fitting,” Qantas International chief executive Alison Webster said in a statement.
“There may be some head scratching moments when people see the name of this aircraft at airports around the world, but a quick internet search will make them immediate quokka converts, and might even encourage them to take a trip.”
Nonstop flights between Perth and London Heathrow start on March 24. Qantas’s 787-9s started their first long-haul route – Melbourne-Los Angeles – commenced just before Christmas.
In June, Qantas published the names of its first batch of 787-9s – Boomerang, Dreamtime, Great Barrier Reef, Great Southern Land, Quokka, Skippy, Uluru and Waltzing Matilda.
Lechuga
says:All I want is for the fourth to be called boomerang.
Flies all the way to the other side of the world and still returns. Sounds perfect imo.
Lechuga
says:Or from the next set of dreamliners to be named boomerang.
Craigy
says:Cute. I can see a new advertising campaign using the Quokka for the London route.
ZNC has had its first flight and ZND is on the assembly line in position 2 of 4.
David
says:Look forward to seeing it grace our skies.
Christopher
says:Can just imagine all the foreign passengers trying to pronounce ‘Quokka’ .
Brie
says:Sorry, Ocker, Quokka’s chocker! Explain that to a foreign traveller!
Mitch
says:@Lechuga
Boomerang is on the list of the first eight. The same with Dreamtime, which was a favourite of mine.
Lechuga
says:@Mitch Dreamtime seems like the perfect time for a new indigenous livery. I would hope at least.
Treb Retsof
says:Boomerang would be better on on an A380.
Pushes back and then returns to the gate!!!
Cass Alexander
says:Time to change the spelling to Qokka
Rick Michell
says:The photo of the Quokka with the Qantas Flight Attendant would be absolute advertising promo and agree with Craigy, look forward to seeing it on your media campaign Rick
Vannus
says:To Brie, above……..
Many decades’ ago, there was the joke went around, supposedly from a TAA check-in clerk, at the old BNE WWII hangared Eagle Farm airport, of pax arriving late for his flight, ‘sorry ocker, the Fokker’s chocker’.
It was in the days that the Fokker Friendships F-27 did the flights up along the Qld coast, stopping at each port, with CNS as final destination.
David
says:What a cute name for a aircraft I like it.
Nic
says:How about Fair Dinkum. Never get more Aussie than that, ha!
Trogdor
says:The next two they order should be named Crikey! and Struth!
Craigy
says:Apparently ZNC is ready for delivery so I guess it will be on its way to Melbourne soon. ZND is at the lost point on the assembly line so will be rolled out very soon.
AlanH
says:I wouldn’t be surprised if that quokka was stuffed! It has the same stance in both pics. They wouldn’t risk putting her pretty face that close to a real one, or manage to get a live one to stand there like that. Is this a premonition for Qantas? Is it stuffed too?
Sean
says:Why not change the Kangaroo that in the circular to a Quokka instead. At least it would get the traveling public talking when the broading the flight from Melbourne, Perth and London and it would get the British traveler to go to Rottnest to get or try to get a selfies with a Quokka. I do remember Ansett putting a wombat on the Beoing 727 and it was also on the Fokker 27.