Qantas has released some stunning air-to-air images of its Boeing 787 named “Quokka”.
A Quokka, pronounced “Kwoka” is the only member of the genus Setonix, and is a small macropod about the size of a domestic cat. Like other marsupials in that family such as Kangaroos, the Quokka is herbivorous and mainly nocturnal.
The Quokka is found mainly on Rottnest Island off Perth and Bald Island near Albany, Western Australia.
The Quokka has gained an international reputation after Swiss tennis star Roger Federer took a selfie with one in December.
Mr Federer tweeted “Meet my new furry friend. So happy to be back down under.”
The 787 named Quokka is registered VH-ZNC and is part of the initial four-ship fleet that will start the airline’s historic Perth to London non-stop flight as part of a London-Perth-Melbourne-Los Angeles routing. It is the 655th 787 built.
The air-to-air images of Quokka were shot over Washington State in the US by Wolfe Air .
Below are a selection of images from the photo shoot.
Boeing’s 787 is now achieving dispatch reliability levels almost as high as its 777-300ER, the industry benchmark for widebody reliability.
Boeing’s regional director Product Marketing Tarun Hazari told Airlineratings.com recently that the 787’s reliability is a “fantastic story” achieving a rate 99.4 percent, just behind the 777-300ERs 99.46 percent.
“Given the higher utilization of the 787 that is an unprecedented number, said Hazari.
The comments came during a global conference call with media on the occasion of the recent certification of Rolls Royce powered 787-10.
Qantas will start Boeing 787-9 services from Melbourne to San Francisco from September 1.
