From '80s mullets and '70s moustaches through to 1940s flying boats and 1920s propeller aircraft, Qantas' epic new safety video is a walk down memory lane that even Kiwis should identify with.
Clocking in at a whopping eight minutes and 20 seconds, it's nearly twice as long as Air NZ's infamous 'It's Kiwi Safety' video.
The 'A Century of Safety' video begins in Longreach, the birthplace of Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, or what we now call Qantas.
It progresses through the different decades of the airline's history using a mixture of real life historic aircraft, uniforms and cabins and computer generated imagery.
The production team spent months sorting through old photographs, memorabilia and artifacts from the airline archives to make the video as authentic as possible.
They also retrieved retired aircraft from the Mojave Desert in the United States.
Aviation geeks and history buffs may notice:
- Wall panels in the 1970s upper deck taken from a retired 747-200 in the Mojave Desert, flown to Sydney and used to help recreate the Captain Cook lounge
- The original Australian Wildflower pattern on the walls of the Boeing 707
- An original tea set from the 1940s
- An original life jacket in the Rose Bay 1930s scene, one of only two remaining from this era
As the video comes to a close, the sound of Peter Allen's anthem 'I Still Call Australia Home' may bring goosebumps to even the most patriotic Kiwis.
Trying to make airplane safety videos compelling and entertaining has been a trend since Air New Zealand released its 'bare essentials' near-naked safety video in 2009. All eyes will be on Air NZ to produce something just as good or better than Qantas' 100 year anniversary video, as the national carrier gets ready for its 80th year in operation.
The new safety video will screen onboard all Qantas international and domestic flights from March 1, 2020.
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