Australian Airways Boeing 747-400 Sydney 2000 Olympics Livery

Australian Airways was the official partner airline of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

In 1993, the XXVII Olympic Games were selected to be hosted by Sydney, Australia, and Australian Airways successfully bid to become the official partner airline. People were wondering if Australian Airways would go big for their special livery for the occasion. But no one would expect the livery that rolled out of the hangar in Sydney on 15 September 1999, exactly one year before the games were to begin.

The livery, featured on flagship 747 VH-ACA, had an enormous amount of blue, with almost the entire top section of the fuselage being entirely painted blue. The iconic and cleverly designed Sydney 2000 Olympics logo was placed graciously on the tail and leading down onto the fuselage. This livery was unlike anything Australian Airways had EVER done before. Every single other livery Australian Airways up to that point, including the "special livery" they did for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics (which was just the logo placed on the front of the fuselage) had the main colours be orange, black, white, and yellow. This livery was completely different. And people fell in love with it. People praised its uniqueness and sleekness. This plane often flew the iconic kangaroo route between Sydney/Melbourne and London via Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and New Delhi (at least for a little bit). Often you would see people turn their heads towards this plane due to it's boldness no matter where in the world Alfa Charlie Alfa was.

At 1:00PM Sydney time on 15 September 2000, the day of the opening ceremony, VH-ACA took off from Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport. But this was no ordinary flight. This was the famous and iconic Australian Airways flight AU2000. Carrying media personnel and special VIPs, she took off after departing the Australian Airways hangar, and headed towards Sydney CBD. She flew past the Sydney Opera House, and flew above the Sydney Harbour Bridge. She circled around Sydney Central until 1:50pm when she headed back to Sydney Airport.

The opening ceremony took place from 7:00PM until 11:19PM Sydney time. The games lasted from the 15th of September, until the 1st of October 2000.

VH-ACA would be repainted in March 2003. She was repainted this late due to the fact that everyone loved the livery, and Australian Airways couldn't be bothered to repaint her figured it would be a good idea to keep it around a little while longer, mainly due to the new livery that was just about to be revealed. VH-ACA would be repainted into the 2003 livery in March, and continues to wear it, even after her retirement. She was retired in March 2015, and was donated to HARS in Wollongong, New South Wales. She remains there to this day, and you can get tours of her for $7 per person.

VH-ACA: 1989 Boeing 747-423 | Australian Airways | Currently: preserved in Wollongong with HARS since March 2015

(yes the kangaroo is holding the Olympic Flame)