The koala was the centre of Qantas ads for 25 years. Photo / Supplied
The koala was the centre of Qantas ads for 25 years. Photo / Supplied
As Qantas celebrates its centenary year and 80 years of flying to New Zealand, it has dug into its archive for the ads it used to lure Kiwis on to its planes and Aussies to cross the Ditch.
The airline will celebrate 100 years of continuous flying in November nextyear and with a quarter share of what became Air New Zealand it began operating trans-Tasman in 1940 with Short S30 flying boats.
Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd (QANTAS) was officially registered on November 16, 1920. Formed in outback Queensland, the business was built on scenic flights and charter work in the early days. Now the Qantas group carries more than 55 million passengers a year.
Between 1967 and 1992 the airline used a cute koala in its international marketing. The voice actor would often say "I hate Qantas!" because the airline was taking tourists to places such as the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney Opera House, not him.
Australians were impored to go to New Zealand - the new place to go. Photo / Supplied
In the ad that played in New Zealand, the koala says ''because so many of you Kiwis want to fly on to Sydney and on to London I got Qantas to bring back the 747B'' in reference to the Jumbo that entered the Qantas fleet in 1971.
The marsupial is also shown climbing the spiral staircase to the plane's famous First Class Captain Cook lounge, which comes complete with a wooden ship's wheel.
Another black and white ad from the 1960s follows a couple touring in a Morris 1100 to Fiordland and Queenstown, they take a sightseeing flight, and also visit what appears to be the Waitomo Caves and land a sizeable tuna. New Zealand is promoted as a new frontier.
''Go international, Go Qantas V-Jet to New Zealand — the new place to go,'' the narrator says.
The V-Jet, a Boeing 707, was Qantas' first jet service between Australia and New Zealand from November 24, 1965. The flight operated between Sydney and Wellington with a Boeing 707. The links with Air NZ forerunner Teal (Tasman Empire Airways Ltd) remained for several decades.
Qantas owned 23 per cent of Teal when it was formed in 1940 to operate between Auckland and Sydney with Empire flying boats.
A historic Qantas poster. Photo / Supplied
Teal was jointly owned by the Australian and NZ governments from 1947.
Qantas managing director and co-founder Hudson Fysh was on the Teal board and remained a board member until 1961 when Teal was fully nationalised and became Air New Zealand in 1965.
Qantas began flying to New Zealand in 1961 with the Lockheed Electra, as previously Teal carried all Qantas passengers to New Zealand.
The premium areas of Jumbo jets were roomy in the 1970s. Photo / Supplied
In 1979, Qantas was the first airline to introduce business class.
In 1981 Qantas bought two Boeing 747SPs special performance short fuselage aircraft specifically to operate into Wellington. The planes flew there for four years until they was replaced by Boeing 767s.
Qantas now flies about 150 trans-Tasman services a week using Boeing 737s and Airbus A330s.
