Strewth! Qantas’ new plane names are bonza

Qantas has finally announced the winners of their plane-naming competition and while “chiko roll” and “yeah nah” didn’t make the cut, eight other Aussie icons have been chosen.

60,000 name suggestions were originally received by the airline, of which 24 were shortlisted and voted for more than 45,000 times.

The public have spoken and the eight new planes will be named Skippy, quokka, boomerang, Waltzing Matilda, The Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Dreamtime and Great Southern Land.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the names are a great representation of Australia’s cultural makeup.

“We had so many worthwhile entries, we could have probably renamed our entire fleet of 208 aircraft,” he told News.com.au.

“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.”

The public have taken to social media to express their thoughts about Qantas’ chosen plane names, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“WHOO HOO SKIPPY! Now the Flying Kangaroo really will have a Flying Kangaroo! Delighted!” said Belle on Qantas’ Facebook page.

But not everyone was happy about the final list.

“Dont like any of them. Should be named after the first nations lands tribes,” commented Barbara-Louisa.