Naming of Qantas Aircraft

The naming of Qantas aircraft has followed various themes since 1926.

• 1926 deHavilland DH-50 — Greek Mythology — Iris, Perseus, Pegasus, Atalanta, Hermes, and Hippomenes
• 1926 deHavilland DH-9 — Greek Mythology — Ion
• 1929 deHavilland DH-61 — Greek Mythology — Apollo, Diana, Hermes and Athena
• 1938 Short Empire C Class Flying boat — Carpentaria, Coorong, Cooee, Clifton, Coolangatta, Coogee, Corio, Camilla, Coriolanus, and Calypso.
• 1943 PBY Catalinas — Stars - Rigel Star, Spica Star, Altair Star, Vega Star, Antares Star.
• 1947 Lockheed Constellation - Aviation Personalities — Ross Smith, Lawrence Hargrave, Harry Hawker, Charles Kingsford Smith, Bert Hinkler and Horace Brinsmead.

• 1949 Douglas DC-4 - Trader Theme — Pacific Trader, Norfolk Trader, New Guinea Trader, Hong Kong Trader, Malayan Trader, Australian Trader, Philippine Trader.

• 1951 Short Sandringham S.25 Flying Boat - Pacific Theme — Pacific Warrior, Pacific Chieftain, Pacific Voyager and Pacific Explorer.

• 1954 Super Constellation - Southern Theme — Southern Aurora, Southern Boomerang, Southern Breeze, Southern Constellation, Southern Dawn, Southern Horizon, Southern Melody, Southern Mist, Southern Moon, Southern Prodigal, Southern Sea, Southern Sky, Southern Spray, Southern Star, Southern Sun, Southern Tide, Southern Wave, Southern Wind and Southern Zephyr.

• 1959 Lockheed Electra - Pacific Theme — Pacific Electra, Pacific Explorer, Pacific Endeavour and Pacific Enterprise

• 1959 Boeing 707-138B - Australian Cities — City of Canberra, City of Sydney, City of Melbourne, City of Brisbane, City of Perth, City of Adelaide, City of Hobart, City of Darwin, Winton, Longreach, City of Newcastle, City of Geelong and City of Launceston.

• 1965 Boeing 707-338C - Australian Cities — City of Parramatta, City of Townsville, Alice Springs, City of Ballarat, City of Wollongong, Kalgoorlie, City of Bendigo, and so on.

City names continued on all Qantas ordered and delivered aircraft types right through to 2008.

• 1989 Boeing 747-400 - in addition to their usual city names, all of these aircraft carry the word "Longreach" as part of the livery. This is actually a double meaning - it signifies both the "long reach" of the aircraft (i.e. they have a long range), and the town where Qantas began - Longreach, Queensland.

• 1993 Qantas obtained a domestic route network when Australian Airlines (formerly Trans Australia Airlines) was merged into Qantas. They used different naming conventions.
  • 1981 Airbus A300 - Australian Explorers — James Cook, John Oxley, John Forrest, William Light, and John Fawkner
  • 1986 Boeing 737-376 - Inspirational Names — Courageous, Advance, Adventure, Boldness, Challenge, Daring, Enterprise, Intrepid, Progress, Success, Valiant, Victory, Resolute, Fortitude, Endeavour, and Gallant.
  • 1990 Boeing 737-476 - Birds — Kookaburra, Brolga, Eagle, Falcon, Swan, Heron, Ibis, Swift, Kestrel, Egret, Lorikeet, Petrel, Bellbird, Cockatiel, Jabiru, Kingfisher, and Currawong. Also, the final few Boeing 737-400s were named as per the -376 convention, specifically - Sharing, Trust, Integrity, and Tenacity.
  • Some aircraft from the Australian Airlines fleet have been renamed using the usual Australian cities Qantas convention.

• 1993 - Aboriginal Art - three aircraft have been painted into striking Aboriginal liveries and named to celebrate the 1993 International observance of International Year of the World's Indigenous People.
  • Wunala Dreaming (Boeing 747-438ER VH-OJB and VH-OEJ ) (OJB was repainted into regular Qantas livery) The design was by John Moriarty and his wife Ros (Balarinji Designs), the design features the spirits of Indigenous Australians in the form of kangaroos travelling through the red desert landscape. Wunula means kangaroo.
  • Nalanji Dreaming (Boeing 747-338 VH-EBU) was also painted by John and Ros Moriarty and was launched in 1995. The aircraft was scrapped in 2007 ref.
  • Yananyi Dreaming (Boeing 737-838 VH-VXB) launched in 2002; the artwork was by Rene Kulitja, a Pitjitjantjarra woman from Mutitjulu, near Uluru.
  • There has been some criticism of Qantas of using Indigenous names and imagery as Indigenous Australians are underrepresented in its workforce.

• 2008 - Airbus A380 - Australian Aviation Pioneers:

• Nancy-Bird Walton - the first woman to fly a commercial aviation service in Australia.
• Hudson Fysh - one of the founders of Qantas and the airline's first Managing Director.
• Paul McGinness - one of the founders of Qantas.
• Fergus McMaster - one of the founders of Qantas and the first Chairman of the Company.
• Lawrence Hargrave - inventor of the box kite, linking four of these together in 1894 to fly 16 feet.
• Charles Kingsford Smith - Australian aviator, who made the first trans-Pacific flight from the USA to Australia in 1928, and founded Australian National Airways Limited.
• Charles Ulm - Co-pilot on Kingsford Smith's record-breaking trans-Pacific flight between the USA and Australia in 1928 and co-founder of Australian National Airways Limited.
• Reginald Ansett - Founder of Ansett Airways Pty Ltd.
• David Warren - Inventor of the Black Box Flight Recorder.
• Bert Hinkler - Pilot of first solo flight from Britain to Australia in 1928.
• John and Reginald Duigan - First Australians to design, construct and fly a powered aircraft, in 1910.
• Phyllis Arnott - First Australian woman to gain a commercial pilot's license.
• Keith Macpherson Smith and Ross Macpherson Smith - Winners of the 'Air Race' between London and Australia in 1919.
• Lester Brain - Piloted the first scheduled Qantas flight in 1925 and ferried the first wartime Catalina flying boat delivered by Qantas Empire Airways in 1941. He was appointed General Manager of Trans Australia Airlines in 1946.
• Lores Bonney - First woman to fly solo around Australia in 1932 and the first woman to fly solo from Australia to England, in 1933.
• Norman Brearley - Founder of Western Australian Airways Limited, which operated Australia's first scheduled air service on 5 December 1921.
• P G Taylor - Navigator and co-pilot alongside Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm on many record-breaking flights between Australia and the United States and England and Australia. Taylor was awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal in 1937 for one of the most revered acts of bravery in the history of aviation.
• Scotty Allan - Co-pilot alongside Charles Ulm and P G Taylor on the 1933 record-breaking flight from England to Australia and later joined Qantas and flew DH86 aircraft on the Brisbane-Singapore route.
• John Flynn - Founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
• Gaby Kennard - First Australian woman to fly solo around the world in 1989.