Image copyright @Qantas Image caption Good sports: The crew of the Sydney-Auckland flight were all smiles as they donned the All Blacks jerseys on Monday

Australian airline Qantas has settled its wager with Air New Zealand after Australia's Rugby World Cup defeat.

The crew of Monday's Sydney to Auckland flight wore All Blacks jerseys, honouring a bet born on Twitter.

The wager was inspired by some social media sparring - an earlier suggestion was for the losing airline to repaint its fleet in opposition colours.

The Kiwis became the first team to defend the Rugby World Cup on Saturday, defeating the Wallabies 34-17.

Image copyright Air NZ / Qantas Image caption The wager first suggested the losing team repainting its entire fleet

Air New Zealand started the Twitter exchange on Friday by tweeting a digitally altered photo of a Qantas plane painted completely black, with slogans including "Team All Blacks", "bound in black" and "simply the best".

"We've been thinking about this wager. How about you paint your planes like this?" the airline said.

Qantas responded with their own image of an Air New Zealand plane in bright Australian gold, saying they "think it needs a golden touch".

Image copyright Twitter Image caption The wager was well-received by rugby fans - prompting a more realistic re-think

Air New Zealand responded: "We wouldn't want to slow our planes down … with all that extra paint", to which Qantas quipped: "We wouldn't think you'd be in a hurry to get here when you lose."

Qantas planes usually fly in a white-and-red colour scheme, while Air New Zealand usually fly white aircraft with a black tail.

The exchange was well-received by rugby fans and Twitter followers, prompting a more realistic proposition.

Image copyright @Qantas Image caption Air New Zealand staff handover the All Blacks jerseys to Qantas crew members in Sydney

"How about this? On Monday in the air, your crew wear our jerseys," Air New Zealand suggested on Friday.

"It's on! But let's not leave the pilots out!" Qantas agreed.

Both companies then agreed to "take this offline" to formalise the bet.

Air New Zealand thanked Qantas on Monday for being "good sports".