Qantas is repainting “Retro Roo II”, the Boeing 737-800 with the iconic 1960s vintage livery.

Qantas originally painted this aircraft, with registration VH-VXQ, in November 2015. But after gracing our skies with the historic colour scheme for nine years, the plane is now being repainted into Qantas’ current regular livery at the same workshop where it was originally painted in Townsville.

I flew once on Retro Roo II, on an early morning flight from Brisbane to Adelaide. I’m sure many other AFF members and readers have flown on it as well.

Retro Roo II had the original Qantas Boeing 707 livery

The livery on Retro Roo II is based on the Qantas Boeing 707 colour scheme from 1959. This aircraft revolutionised international travel at the time, reducing travel times on the “kangaroo route” from Sydney to London from 50 to 27 flying hours – although the plane still needed to make multiple stops.

In 1959, Qantas also flew the first passenger jet service from Australia to the United States, flying the Boeing 707 from Sydney to San Francisco with refuelling stops in Nadi and Honolulu.

Other Qantas planes with special liveries

“Retro Roo II” was the second Boeing 737-800 that Qantas painted in a vintage livery last decade. The original Retro Roo, with registration VH-XZP and named “James Strong”, is now the only Qantas plane in a proper retro livery.

But that’s not the only Qantas plane with a unique livery. As well as a couple of A330-200s in Oneworld liveries, Qantas has a Boeing 787-9 with a special 100th anniversary livery showcasing all of Qantas’ previous logos.

In its history, Qantas has also painted numerous aircraft with unique indigenous designs. It currently has three jets in special Aboriginal liveries – a Boeing 787-9, an Airbus A220-300 and a Boeing 737-800.

I was once lucky enough to spot all three of the Qantas 737s in unique liveries parked next to each other at Sydney Airport. It’s sad to think that this sight will never be possible again:

Why paint planes in retro liveries?

Many other legacy airlines around the world have also painted one or more of their planes in special retro liveries. As well as giving a nod to the airline’s history, there’s a simple reason why they do this: Marketing.

These liveries are popular with customers, and let’s face it – planes are also huge, flying billboards. In the age of social media, customers share photos of planes with these unique liveries way more than others.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.