Name that plane!

Australian airline Qantas has made a wild decision to allow the public to decide the name of its six new A220 aircraft, on order from Airbus.

The new planes have begun construction at Airbus’ aeronautical production plant in Mirabel, Canada and are expected to join the domestic QantasLink network from as early as next year.

The A220s will be replacing the older Boeing 717 services across Australia. However, the carrier says the planes could end up hopping the Tasman on international routes to New Zealand.

 “With double the range of the 717, the A220 is also expected to open up new domestic and short-haul international routes as more aircraft enter the fleet,” said a press release from Qantas.

One of the six Qantas A220s on order from Airbus Canada in Quebec. Photo / Supplied

With an operating range of over 6000km, the twin jets make fuel savings of almost a third on the older Boeing planes.

As the first aircraft of its kind on order from Airbus Canada, Qantas says it has begun training pilots and working to clear the aircraft for regulatory approvals at Australian airports. The switch to new aircraft is a big operation, and to mark the significance the airline has invited the public to name its new fleet of six A220s.

It hase asked travellers to submit up to six suggestions via qantas.com on the theme of Australian “native wildlife”.

On Wednesday the carrier shared an update from the hangars in Quebec with an open invitation to name the new planes.

“It won’t be long until we need to paint the name on the side of these aircraft,” said CEO of QantasLink John Gissing.

“We want Australians to help choose some names that showcase some of our country’s favourite native animals.”

He asked for nominees to suggest aircraft names that celebrate Australia’s “unique and rare wildlife”.

It won’t be long before an echidna or emu could be flying between Melbourne and Canberra and eventually New Zealand. Or perhaps a quokka?

Travellers are invited to submit their favourite critters as names for the new QantasLink A220 fleet by August 8, 2023, at qantas.com/a220name