Quokka Beats Vegemite to Win Qantas Competition

Soon, Qantas customers won’t be jetting off on a flying kangaroo – they’ll be taking to the skies aboard a Quokka.

The Australian public has voted, and the names of Qantas’s eight new 787-9 Dreamliners have been decided.

The final eight, iconic names chosen for Qantas’s new Dreamliners are:

Great Barrier Reef, Boomerang, Skippy, Waltzing Matilda, Uluru, Great Southern Land, Quokka and Dreamtime.

Qantas crowd-sourced the names of its eight new 787-9 Dreamliners, holding a competition that saw 60,000 suggestions flood in. The entries ranged from our beer-loving compatriot David Boon to everyone’s favourite bush kangaroo Skippy. However, to mitigate the risk of customers taking off aboard the Foxy Moron, say, or the Chopper Read, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce set some parameters. The names could be people, places or things, he said – but they had to reflect the true spirit of Australia.

 As such, the shortlist was free from controversial suggestions – there was no Schapelle Corby, no Warwick Capper, not even a Planey McPlaneface. Some of the shortlisted names that missed out on final selection include Cooee, Fred Hollows and Kokoda.

SEE ALSO: Qantas Reveals the Shortlist in Plane-naming Competition

“Thank you to everyone who participated – we had so many worthwhile entries that we could have renamed our entire fleet of aircraft,” Joyce said.

“While there were a few suggestions that are best left unmentioned, we hope that Australians will get a sense of pride or have a little chuckle when they see Quokka on the gate at London Heathrow Airport waiting to take them home.

“We think the eight names are a reflection of the places and things that make Australians feel proud.”

The new names will be emblazoned beneath the cockpit window on each Dreamliner by Boeing before they’re delivered to Qantas.