Qantas (QF) customers in Australia will take to the skies on Waltzing Matilda, Boomerang and Quokka as the airline today revealed the names for its fleet of eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

More than 60,000 suggestions were put forward and 45,000 votes cast in selecting the names of the aircraft that will fly routes including Perth to London and Melbourne to Los Angeles.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the public response to the challenge of naming the aircraft after things that captured the spirit of Australia was fantastic.

“We had so many worthwhile entries, we could have probably renamed our entire fleet of 208 aircraft,” Mr Joyce said.

“There were some clear favourites and it’s given us a good mix of names for our eight Dreamliners, from landmarks to native animals, literature and Indigenous heritage.

“We know people get a real sense of home when they see the flying kangaroo at airports around the world, and hopefully they’ll enjoy seeing these uniquely Australian names as well,” added Mr Joyce.

Davey the Quokka from WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo pictured with Qantas flight attendant Kersha Johnson.

The final names (in no particular order).

  • Great Barrier Reef
  • Boomerang
  • Skippy
  • Waltzing Matilda
  • Uluru
  • Great Southern Land
  • Quokka
  • Dreamtime

The names will be painted beneath the cockpit window on each aircraft. The sequencing of names will be revealed as the aircraft are delivered, with the first to arrive in October this year.

While we're not likley to see any Qantas 787's servicing New Zealand airports anytime soon, Qantas are planning on switching a number of services out of Auckland from their small and dated Boeing 737 jets to the significantly larger Airbus A330. The Qantas A330's are kitted at the pointy end with the well regarded Business Suites, also destined for the 787-9 Dreamliners.