The naming of Qantas aircraft has followed various themes since 1926.
1926 de Havilland DH.50 – figures from Greek mythology – Iris, Perseus, Pegasus, Atalanta, Hermes, and Hippomenes
1926 de Havilland DH.9 – figure from Greek mythology – Ion
1929 de Havilland DH.61 – figures from Greek mythology – Apollo, Diana, Hermes and Athena
1938 Short Empire C Class Flying boat – mainly Australian coastal place names – Carpentaria, Coorong, Cooee, Coolangatta, Coogee and Corio; four aircraft (Clifton, Camilla, Coriolanus, and Calypso) transferred from British Overseas Airways Corporation during World War II.
1943 Consolidated PBY Catalina – stars – Rigel Star, Spica Star, Altair Star, Vega Star, Antares Star.
1947 Lockheed L-749 Constellation – Australian aviation personalities – Ross Smith, Lawrence Hargrave, Harry Hawker, Charles Kingsford Smith, Bert Hinkler and Horace Brinsmead.
1949 Douglas DC-4 – "Trader" heme – 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 Lockheed L-1049 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. Also, the Super Constellation L-1049F restored by the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) was named "Southern Preservation", in the theme of the original aircraft.
1958 de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter – New Guinea theme – Kikori (Papua), Kokopo (New Britain), Kieta (Bougainville), and Kerowagi (New Guinea).
1959 Lockheed L-188 Electra – "Pacific" theme – Pacific Electra, Pacific Explorer, Pacific Endeavour and Pacific Enterprise
1959 Boeing 707-138 – Australian cities, mainly capital 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 707-338 – 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 Boeing 747, Boeing 747SP and Boeing 767 aircraft until 2008.
1989 Boeing 747-400 – in addition to their usual city names, all Boeing 747-400 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 commenced operations : Longreach, Queensland.
In 1993 Qantas obtained a domestic route network when Australian Airlines (formerly Trans Australia Airlines) was merged into Qantas. Australian Airlines had used different naming conventions and these names were carried over.
1981 Airbus A300 – Australian explorers – James Cook, John Oxley, John Forrest, William Light and John Fawkner
1986 Boeing 737-300 – inspirational names – Courageous, Advance, Adventure, Boldness, Challenge, Daring, Enterprise, Intrepid, Progress, Success, Valiant, Victory, Resolute, Fortitude, Endeavour and Gallant
1990 Boeing 737-400 – 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 delivered were named as per the 737-300 convention – Sharing, Trust, Integrity and Tenacity.
1993 – Aboriginal Art – five aircraft have been painted with four different Aboriginal liveries and named accordingly; initially to celebrate the 1993 International observance of International Year of the World's Indigenous People. There has been some criticism of Qantas for using Indigenous names and imagery as Indigenous Australians are under-represented in its workforce.Wunala Dreaming (Boeing 747-400 VH-OJB and Boeing 747-400ER VH-OEJafter retirement of OJB) (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. Wunala means kangaroo.
Nalanji Dreaming (Boeing 747-300 VH-EBU) was also painted to a design by John and Ros Moriarty and was launched in 1995. The aircraft has been retired.
Yananyi Dreaming (Boeing 737-800 VH-VXB) launched in 2002; the artwork was by Rene Kulitja, a Pitjitjantjarra woman from Mutitjulu, near Uluru. repainted into corporate livery - September 2014.
Mendoowoorrji (Boeing 737-800 VH-XZJ) was designed by John and Ros Moriarty based on the 2005 painting 'Medicine Pocket' by West Australian Aboriginal artist Paddy Bedford and launched in November 2013.
2008 – Airbus A380 – Australian aviation pioneers:
VH-OQA – Nancy-Bird Walton – the first woman to fly a commercial aviation service in Australia.
VH-OQB – Hudson Fysh – one of the founders of Qantas and the airline's first Managing Director.
VH-OQC – Paul McGinness – one of the founders of Qantas.
VH-OQD – Fergus McMaster – one of the founders of Qantas and the first Chairman of the company.
VH-OQE – Lawrence Hargrave – inventor of the box kite, linking four of these together in 1894 to fly 16 feet.
VH-OQF – 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.
VH-OQG – 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.
VH-OQH – Reginald Ansett – founder of Ansett Airways Pty Ltd.
VH-OQI – David Warren – inventor of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.
VH-OQJ – Bert Hinkler – pilot of first solo flight from Britain to Australia in 1928.
VH-OQK – John and Reginald Duigan – first Australians to design, construct and fly a powered aircraft, in 1910.
VH-OQL – Phyllis Arnott – first Australian woman to gain a commercial pilot's license.
VH-OQM (not yet delivered) – Keith Macpherson Smith and Ross Macpherson Smith – the first people to fly from England to Australia, in 1919.
VH-OQN (not yet delivered) – Lester Brain – piloted the first scheduled Qantas flight in 1925 and ferried the first PBY Catalina flying boat delivered by Qantas Empire Airways from the United States to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1941. He was appointed General Manager of Trans Australia Airlines in 1946.
James Strong (Boeing 737-800 VH-XZP) delivered late 2014 in 'retro livery' reminiscent of the iconic QANTAS scheme used throughout the 1970s. The plane itself is Qantas' 75th Boeing 737-800 and named James Strong in honour of the former Australian Airlines then Qantas CEO who died in 2013. The RetroRoo jet was unveilled in Seattle, on the 94th anniversary of Qantas being founded as the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service.
registrations not yet assigned to the following names
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.
Scotty Allan – co-pilot alongside Charles Ulm and P G Taylor on the 1933 record-breaking flight from England to Australia; later joined Qantas and flew de Havilland Express 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.
