As preparations for the festive holiday season get underway worldwide, Australian airline Qantas is fully getting into the Christmas spirit.
The carrier has just unveiled two Christmas-themed liveries on a pair of its domestic fleet – a De Havilland Dash 8 Q400 and a Boeing 737-800. The yuletide planes have also been given reindeer-themed names to coincide with their special liveries.
The Q400 (registration VH-QOW) has been christened ‘Dasher-8’. At the same time, the 737 will become ‘Roo-dolph’ for the holiday season, a clever amalgam of the identity of Santa’s lead reindeer plus a nod to the ‘Flying Kangaroo’ tail logo of the airline.
Dasher-8 rolled out the QantasLink hangar at Brisbane Airport (BNE) on December 4, 2023, resplendent in its newly applied livery, which features a large red sleigh and kangaroos. On both Dasher-8 and Roo-Dolph, the carrier promises that Christmas carols will be played throughout the boarding process.
Both planes will spend the holiday season flying across the domestic and regional networks of QantasLink and its parent company.
Dasher-8’s first flight was from Brisbane to Rockhampton (ROK) in Central Queensland as QF2372. The aircraft is based in Brisbane and is most likely to be seen at regional airports around Queensland, such as Emerald (EMD), Longreach (LRE), Bundaberg (BDB), and Rockhampton.
“All the crew had a fantastic time operating the first Dasher-8 flight from Brisbane to Rockhampton,” said QantasLink cabin crew member Tiffany Gobbe. “Customers were so excited being welcomed by Santa at the gate and then seeing our Dasher-8 aircraft in all its festive glory as they walked across the apron set the mood for a fun flight. I hope to fly on Dasher-8 a few more times in the lead-up to Christmas.”
Not only is Qantas entering the Christmas spirit with its themed planes, but the airline is also offering other benefits to passengers as additional Christmas gifts this holiday season.
All passengers flying on the pair of themed aircraft will receive double frequent flyer points until the end of December. Additionally, throughout December, Qantas’ “wine time” will be brought forward from 4 pm to midday for the first time in the airline’s history.
Domestic customers traveling in economy will be offered a choice of complimentary Australian wine or beer at the new earlier time to have with their lunch or afternoon snacks.
Passengers will be able to enjoy a complimentary selection of premium Australian wines or beer (One Fifty Lashes Pale Ale) with lunch or their afternoon snacks. The Qantas website indicates that wine and beer will also be stocked on flights departing from 9am if the journey time is longer than 2.5 hours.
Christmas sale is now on
Lastly, Qantas has also launched a massive sale on domestic flights to entice customers to plan their next vacation flight while they take some downtime over the festive period.
The sale includes more than 40 routes under AUD150 ($99), with economy fares starting from AUD109 ($72) one-way. Until December 12, 2023, Aussie travelers can reserve seats from Launceston (LST) to Melbourne (MEL) for AUD109 ($72), Brisbane to Newcastle (NTL) for AUD129 ($85), and Melbourne to Gold Coast (OOL) or Sydney (SYD) for AUD135 ($89).
There are also AUD179 ($118) flights from Cairns (CNS) to Sydney, Adelaide (ADL) to Alice Springs (ASP) for AUD209 ($138), and Melbourne to Perth (PER) for AUD269 ($177). A range of travel periods apply between January and September 2024.