Summary

  • Qantas unveils special Olympic livery on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, showcasing Australian pride on global stage.
  • Qantas proud to support Australian Olympic and Paralympic teams, marking 70 years of shared history.
  • Flying Kangaroo provides extra mile of support, like carrying Paralympians to games, highlighting inclusivity.

Australians have a love-hate relationship with their national flag carrier, Qantas, but when it comes to ferrying elite athletes to the Olympic or Paralympic Games, then it’s 100% love for the Flying Kangaroo. Today, love was in the air at the Qantas Jet Base when the airline unveiled the aircraft that will do the job to Paris and back this year, painted in its Olympic livery.

Flying Kangaroo to the Olympics

As is the case every four years, Qantas is throwing its support behind the Australian Olympic and Paralympic teams that will soon be heading to Paris. The airline has unveiled a special ‘GO AUSTRALIA’ message emblazoned on either side of one of its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, a 2018 model registered VH-NZH with an MSN 36241.

Qantas 787 Go Australia Olympics Livery

Photo: Qantas

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While Australia has a staunch red, white and blue flag, its national colors are the green and yellow of a native Wattle tree, which Qantas has followed in its message. The airline said the specially created graphic showcases Australian pride on an international stage and captures the essence of the iconic green and gold Aussie spirit. It also solidifies the Flying Kangaroo’s proud position as the official carrier of the 2024 Australian Olympic and Paralympic Teams.

A proud history of support

Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said the airline and the Australian Olympic team have more than 70 years of shared history, adding that the airline is proud to support the athletes and supporters get to the Games and hopes the special cheer squad 787 will spur on the teams to put on a great show in Paris.

“Qantas has a long and proud history of supporting the Australian Olympic and Paralympic Teams, from first flying Olympic athletes to the London Games in 1948 to our engineers designing custom cushions and support devices for our Australian Paralympians to travel comfortably on long-haul sectors.”

A Qantas Boeing 787 Dreamliner flying in the sky.

Photo: Steve Worner | Shutterstock.

After the Olympics, a big welcoming party of media, family and friends usually greets the Qantas 787 Dreamliner in a hangar at the airline’s base in Sydney. For the athletes, successful or otherwise, the trip home on a Flying Kangaroo and the rapturous welcome is a highlight in itself, and it has become an integral part of how Qantas gets behind the national teams.

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For the Paralympic teams, Qantas also goes the extra mile to carry them to and from the games and give them every support in their quest for gold. The airline supports the travel requirements of people with disabilities and the equipment they carry, which helps the airline understand the needs of the disabled community in its day-to-day operations. Qantas brought Paralympians home from the London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 games, and the tradition continues this year in Paris.

Qantas has a fleet of 14 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and is preparing to launch them on its new Perth Airport (PER) to Paris route in July. The Dreamliners are also lining up this weekend when Qantas will resume its nonstop flights from Perth to Rome for the third year running. The carrier is still the only airline to offer nonstop flights between Australia and continental Europe.

Do you like to see airlines supporting their national teams? Let us know in the comments.

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