Qantas the national carrier of Australia has unveiled and launched a redesigned version of its flying Kangaroo logo. The redesigned flying Kangaroo ties in with several other key announcements that were made today by QANTAS Executive General Manager John Borghetti.

The old Qantas Flying Kangaroo logo left next to the new, picture from the Sydney Morning Hearld 

The redesigned Qantas Flying Kangaroo came about to bring a contemporary design that would better suit the tail of the Airbus A380, which Qantas plans to introduce in August 2008.

On the subject of the new logo James Borghetti said. "This move also reflects the changing structure of our new aircraft, for example the shape of our new kangaroo is a great fit for the tail of the A380 and other new generation aircraft,"

 The new flying Kangaroo logo has already been integrated into the Qantas website, and was adorned on the first aircraft a Boeing 767 today. The new logo will be progressively updated on the remaining Qantas fleet in the lead up to the arrival of the first Airbus A380.

Other announcements made today by Qantas

• Introduction of new premium economy class/cabin for in its Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A380 aircraft.

• Domestic Business class only lounge at the key business airports of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

• In-flight wireless internet access for every seat (including economy) in the new Airbus A380, which will also offer laptop power socket and a USB ports in each seat for use with a Qantas in-flight entertainment units and for charging.

Announcements made today signify a leap forward for Qantas which I believe will take the carrier to a new level.

On a personal note as an Australian when I first heard the rumours that Qantas had re-designed the flying Kangaroo I was a little disappointed as the flying Kangaroo means a lot to myself as it does to many other Australians, with most  regarding it as a de-facto emblem of Australia. Once I saw the redesigned Qantas flying kangaroo my mind was put at ease. Qantas have actually done a great job with just a slight re-design, which was enough to modernise the logo for the future but not enough to change its appeal and meaning to the majority of Australians.

The Qantas flying Kangaroo has had four re-designs since the company’s inception (1947, 1968, 1984 and 2007) and I am sure it won’t be the last