Qantas jump-starts Flying Kangaroo brand for Dreamliner

Qantas has given its iconic Flying Kangaroo and aircraft livery a makeover to herald the arrival of the Dreamliner.

Qantas through the years: the kangaroo’s still flying, but now it’s lost its paw as well as its wing.

Qantas has given its Flying Kangaroo and aircraft livery a makeover with new fonts, logos that refer to the airline’s past, and a paw-less roo to herald the ­arrival of its newest aircraft, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, next year.

The redesign — the fifth time Qantas has changed the red and white kangaroo since it was introduced in 1944 — has been a tightly held secret at the airline’s Mascot headquarters for the past year, but was finally revealed to a crowd of 800 people at Sydney airport yesterday when Qantas wheeled in a freshly painted A330 which had been stowed away for the past two weeks in the Mojave Desert in the US.

“We’ve been working on this for over a year … and I’m abso­lutely amazed it’s remained a ­secret until now,” Qantas chief Alan Joyce said.

“This is a streamlined version of the kangaroo; it’s a modern version and something that we believe is an evolution of this amazing brand. It’s all about making sure Qantas is set up for the next era. We felt that this was the perfect combination of representing the past but also talking about our future.”

Qantas last updated its kangaroo logo in 2007 to coincide with the delivery of the Airbus A380 superjumbo.

The mastermind ­behind that revamp, award-winning brand specialist Hans Hulsbosch, ­declined to comment yesterday on the changes to his design.

Mr Joyce said it had become tradition for the airline to unveil fresh livery with the delivery of new aircraft and the new design would help herald in its Dreamliners, which will eventually replace the decades-old fleet of 747s.

“It’s a tradition that goes back to the Lockheed Constellation in 1947, the Boeing 727-300 in 1984 and the A380 in 2007,’’ he said. “A fresh brand helps symbolise the new era Qantas is entering as we head towards our centenary.’’

The new design has a more streamlined kangaroo, which has had its paw removed and shading added to give it more depth.

Encircled kangaroos referring to the famous winged kangaroo that graced aircraft tails for more than three decades have been added under the cockpit window.

A kangaroo has also been added to the inside curved edge of the wingtips, which will be visible when passengers take pictures through the window. That takes the kangaroo count on twin-­engine planes from four to eight.

The design, the brainchild of long-time Qantas collaborator Marc Newson, also comes with a slimmer font for the fuselage branding and a giant Qantas sign will be emblazoned on a plane’s belly to make it easier for planespotters to pick out the aircraft.

The new design came as Qantas unveiled its long-awaited seat configuration for its Dreamliners. Economy passengers are set to get an extra 2.5cm of leg room.