To celebrate the reopening of Australia’s borders and the return of international travel, Qantas has launched a latest version of its epic “I Still Call Australia Home” campaign, which, since its launch in 1987, has earned a place in Olympus among the best airline advertisements ever produced.
Based on the song by local singer-songwriter Peter Allen, this year’s version is performed by Kylie Minogue, Hugh Jackman, Ash Barty, Adam Goodes, Troye Sivan, the Bangarra dance company, Olympic swimmers Bronte Campbell and Ellie Cole, Aboriginal Elder Rene Kulitja, Qantas employees, and the Qantas Choir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwfuo8ESa5E
The advertisement was filmed prior to COVID in various Australian locations from the Hutt Lagoon in West Australia to the jagged cliffs of Cape Raoul, Tasmania, with scenes also filmed in Melbourne, Uluru, Hobart, Sydney, Los Angeles, Tokyo, and London.
Also included are very emotional scenes showing the reunion of family members after two years of pandemic.
“The last major Qantas advert came as the country was rolling up its sleeves to be vaccinated so we could all reconnect, and it really struck a chord. Now that borders are finally open, and staying open, this is the perfect time to relaunch this Peter Allen classic as the national carrier’s anthem,” said Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas Group.
“The full version of this advert is effectively a short film that highlights Australia’s stunning natural beauty and unique culture while celebrating the incredible resilience that has really shone through recently. After two exceedingly difficult years, we’re focused on recovery and have a lot of exciting things in the pipeline, including several new international destinations, decisions on new aircraft and recruiting more people”, he added.
The company pointed out that demand for domestic travel has strengthened since February, and expects that by this Easter, capacity will be 10% higher than pre-COVID levels, when the average recovery for the second half of 2021 was 40%.
Internationally, bookings to destinations such as Los Angeles, London and Hawaii are also above pre-pandemic levels, and expect another boost when New Zealand reopens its borders to Australians on April 12.
According to information obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, during April Qantas will operate some 330 international flights per week, representing a supply of 80,382 seats. This implies a 45% recovery in the number of flights and a 42% recovery in the number of seats compared to April 2019.
Some of the main long-haul international destinations that have not been resumed are Shanghai, San Francisco, and Santiago de Chile, which are tentatively scheduled from August, September, and November, respectively.
The first version of the “I Stil Call Australia Home” campaign was launched in 1987:
A second version was released in 1994 to coincide with the Commonwealth Games held in Canada:
A third version, which featured the Qantas choir for the first time, was premiered in 1998:
There were also different variations over the years, but this is the first time since 1998 that the entire concept of the commercial has been recreated.
To celebrate this, the company also launched a promotion called “Thanks A Million”, which offers one million tickets at special fares on seventy domestic and international routes.
