Airlines Qantas unveils B787 with special livery

The new livery features the work of the late Northern Territory artist and senior Anmatyerre woman, Emily Kame Kngwarreye. The artwork depicts the culturally significant yam plant, an important symbol in Emily’s Dreaming stories and a staple food source in her home region of Utopia, 230km north-east of Alice Springs. The aircraft itself will be named Emily Kame Kngwarreye in tribute to the artist.

“As the national carrier we’re thrilled to showcase another piece of Indigenous culture on one of our aircraft, and to reiterate our ongoing commitment to reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,” said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.

For only the second time in Qantas’ history the iconic flying kangaroo on the aircraft has been changed to form part of the design, with the airline’s trademark red tail color altered to match the earthy red tones and white dots of Emily’s artwork.

The aircraft will fly direct for approximately 15 hours from the Boeing factory in Seattle to touch down in Alice Springs on the 2^nd of March 2018 where it will be welcomed by Emily’s family.

Registered as VH-ZND, the aircraft will then fly to Sydney and Melbourne for crew familiarization flights on Qantas’ domestic network before it enters service on international routes from late March.

Qantas has ordered eight Boeing 787-9, which should replace older Boeing 747-400. Each Dreamliner has 42 seats in business class, 28 in premium economy and 166 in economy class.