HOME   > STAMP SITES > NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT COVERS > AFTER 1940

---

The Flights	All pictures in this column are thumbnails
1941 October The Pan Am route to New Zealand changed to being through Fiji. This was the first scheduled New Zealand - Fiji mail Covers were flown in both directions. The service halted with the entry of the US into the war in late 1941.  There was a Clipper - Pacific Clipper - NC18609, Captain Robert Ford, en-route to Auckland in 1942 when the Pacific war broke out and he was told not to recross the Pacific but find its way home to San Francisco westwards - which it eventually did via Noumea, Gladstone (Australia), Darwin, Surabaya, Tricomalee, Karachi, Bahrain, Khatoum, Leopoldville, Natal, Trinidad, New York - an early world circling flight - and the first by a commercial liner.	Fiji to Auckland
	New Zealand to Fiji
	ditto and return
1942 Norfolk Island R.N.Z.A.F. Hudson, No 9 Squadron, Christmas Day 1942 Norfolk became a vital staging post in transferring aircraft and in communication to the Pacific theatre of war. Mail was carried in both directions. The pilot was Geoff Keller, later a family friend of my wife's family. Lockheed A28/29 Hudson Not the first flight to Norfolk from New Zealand though. That was Sir Francis Chichester in 1931 in a float equipped DH 60 Gypsy Moth - an epic of over water navigation. It was the first use of purely observational methods to find a small island. The technique (of deliberately aiming to one side of the target then flying down a pre-calculated line defined by solar sextant observations) was taught to all navigators in the Pacific during the war. Seaplane Solo, 1933, is his account. Chichester carried mail off the island (to Lord Howe), but not to. 1981 Commemorative flight cover ex Auckland Local commemorative cover, 1981  See here for a cover of the 50th anniversary of that flight with a cover portrait of Chichester. In 1967 Britain issued a stamp honouring his solo round the world yacht voyage. Norfolk Island 1974 1980 Norfolk Island 2c depiction of this flight, Scott 257 The Chichester route has even been flown in a microlight. See here. Norfolk despite being an Australian Territory has a special relationship with New Zealand. The Pitcairn Islanders were most often contacted by ships en-route to New Zealand from Panama so started an emigrant community in New Zealand, particularly its main port of Auckland or ucklun as the Pitcairners call it. Pitcairners also migrated to Norfolk and the three communities have sustained their relationships. Commemorative Issue (7 September 1982) 40th Anniversary of first aircraft landing, and a Christmas stamp because of the date of the first flight.
1944 First airmail from Rarotonga - Cook Islands "The first aircraft to land on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands group was the RNZAF Lockheed Lodestar NZ3508, captained by Flt Lt Tom Mounsey, on the 25th of Nov 1944. The airport was constructed by the New Zealand Aerodrome Services Branch, and was a gift to the Cooks from NZ Prime Minister Peter Fraser." Aircraft history	Rarotonga- Auckland - postmark 25 Nov 44
1946 Pan Am resumed the trans-Pacific route on June 6th 1946 with DC4s. PAA DC4	Jan 1946 Auckland - Canada  ? Who carried this.
	USA to NZ June 8 1946, not a FFC but must have been the second.
To Canada via Pan Am, 1947.
Western Samoa   ? who carried this	Western Samoa - NZ
1947 BCPA Auckland - Vancouver April DC4 Titana VH-AND. April 25th.  British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines was a short-lived airline 20% owned by Britain, 50% by Australia and 30% by New Zealand. It commenced operation through Auckland with DC4s leased from Australian National Airlines.  It later operated DC6s from Australia to Vancouver, with TEAL and NAC feeder services to Australia and Fiji,  until 1954 when Britain withdrew. The airline was liquidated and TEAL inherited three of the DC6s.   BCPA DC-6 with the Southern Cross BCPA    DC4s in Australia	New Zealand to the USA
	To Canada and return
	To the USA
	Centennial stamps
1947 Auckland - Rarotonga - Suva - Apia - Nuku'alofa & vice versa. NAC Short Sunderland III ZK-AMG Mataatua. 1 November,  N.Z. National Airways (Captain RH. Makgill). The service had shortened to Auckland - Rarotonga by 1951 and ended finally in 1952. Mataatua was formerly RNZAF NZ4103. On November 2nd NAC commenced and Auckland-Norfolk service with a DC3, ZK-APB Popotea.. 1987 Sunderland stamp	Auckland - Fiji. 'F.M.B.' on the cancellation stands for Foreign Mail Branch"
1949 Canadian Pacific Airlines CF-CPI Canadair IV July. Routed Vancouver, Honolulu.
	Vancouver - Auckland
1950 TEAL Solent IV Ararangi ZK-AMM Wellington - Sydney Oct 3. These aircraft gave a considerable boost in performance over the poorly engineered Short S25 Sandringham IVs they replaced. Solents were originally a commercial version of the Seaford, a military seaplane intended to replace the Sunderland. The model IV for TEAL was a special long range model. Solent ZK-AMO is preserved at MOTAT in Auckland.  Teal Postcard - Taking off in Suva Solent page	New Zealand to Australia
1950 Christchurch - Sydney 20 December 1950 Flown for TEAL by QANTAS Lockheed Constellation VH-EAC "Harry Hawker".  A special flight for Canterbury Centenary.
	Another with a Connie cachet
1951 Christchurch - Melbourne - First Direct Service June 28.  This service was by chartered Qantas DC4. Christchurch could not be serviced by flying boats and TEAL leased DC4's from Trans Australian Airways for the ongoing service. For more on the routes and stamps follow these links THE STAMPS   MAP	New Zealand to Australia
	Ditto
	Melbourne to Christchurch airletter
	Australia - Christchurch
	1950 Chch airport opening cover - flown on Melbourne service
1951 Auckland - Papeete - Inaugural Flight of the Coral Route, December 27, TEAL.  Solent IV flying boat. The Coral Route was Auckland -  Fiji - Samoa - Aitutaki (Cook Islands) - Tahiti. About the Coral Route	NZ to Papeete
	NZ to Papeete
1952 Auckland - Vancouver, February. Canadian Pacific Air Lines Canadair C-4CF-CPJ, Auckland-Nandi-Canton Island-Honolulu-Vancouver. The Canadair IV was a DC4, license produced by Canadair with Merlin engines. Fittingly it has a Canadian stamp. The longer nacelles compared to a standard DC4 are apparent. It was also pressurised which added to its popularity.	Auckland - Vancouver and return.
	Another
	Auckland - Vancouver -  Auckland
1953 Coral Route extended to Tonga, August. TEAL	New Zealand - Tonga
1953 Coronation Special Qantas Flight UK to NZ
1953 Air Race UK- Christchurch  Covers were carried by the New Zealand entry in the race, an RNZAF Handley Page Hastings. They were official New Zealand mail on the journey to London and delivered by the British Post Office. The return journey was not sanctioned by the British but was carried as unofficial mail. The plane did not complete the race flight to Christchurch, diverting to Auckland after engine trouble on route.  Hastings Page	New Zealand to UK
	Netherlands to NZ via the KLM entry, Return flight
	Another ex NZ
1954 Christchurch - Sydney   First Direct Service DC6, May 14, ZK-BGA Aotearoa III   TEAL DC6	New Zealand - New Zealand
	Christchurch- - Sydney
1955 Auckland - Norfolk Island  The service through Norfolk to Fiji started in 1947 with an RNZAF Dakota, but switched in the same year to NZ National Airways Corporation (NAC) DC3s.  NAC stopped other Pacific services in 1952 but continued to Norfolk until 1955 (4 September). From 1955 (6 November) to 1975 the service was operated by a Qantas DC4 under charter to TEAL as an extension of the Qantas Sydney-Norfolk route. The cover depicts a TEAL DC6 so it perhaps marks some TEAL sensitivity about not using its own aircraft!. From 1975 TEAL used chartered NAC F27 500 Friendships on the route and from 1984 Air New Zealand used Boeing 737s. Qantas DC4 NAC DC3 The Norfolk Island 1980 definitive series includes: 80c - Douglas DC-4 Skymaster, Qantas $2 - Fokker F-27 Friendship, NAC New Zealand 2001	NZ - Norfolk
1957 Christchurch - McMurdo, Boeing B-377 Stratocruiser, Clipper America The first commercial aircraft flight to Antarctica took place on 15th October 1957 when a Pan American Stratocruiser, carried VIPs and US Seabees from Christchurch, New Zealand, to McMurdo Station in the Ross Sea region. This was a one-off event at the beginning of the IGY activities and regular commercial flights did not commence until several decades later.  The two female flight attendants were among the first women to visit this part of Antarctica. Artist's impression of the scene at McMurdo. The C124 Globemaster II in the right background was a military equivalent of the Stratocruiser, slower but hauling more. As a child in Dunedin I saw fleets of these pass overhead on their way from Christchurch  to Antarctica. See my NZ Antarctic Covers Site	Mail was carried both ways.
1959 Auckland - Brisbane   First Direct Service TEAL Lockheed Electra L188, July 4.  The Electra was a turboprop aircraft which had a troubled introduction. Teal were an early purchaser and had to operate the aircraft below rated cruise speed for a period while some failure problems were investigated.   L188 Electra in later Air New Zealand guise. Electra Page  Another	Auckland - Brisbane
1959 TEAL Auckland - Melbourne Electra Service, December 7.	NZ - Melbourne
1960 TEAL Electra service to Fiji, January	Fiji - Auckland
1961 Qantas commences service to New Zealand, 3 October. Qantas had bought Electras earlier. The Australian half owners of TEAL had forced it to buy Electras it did not want. With the sale of the Australian share in TEAL to New Zealand QANTAS commenced a rival Electra service.  L188 Electra	Australia to New Zealand
1963 Comet 4 Flight, London - Auckland, BOAC. The Comet 4 was a late development of the earlier ill-fated models of the De Havilland Comet. This model first flew in 1958. BOAC, the predecessors of BA, were the major user of the type. Comet website-	Britain to New Zealand
	New Zealand to Britain
1965 Inaugural Qantas Jet Service - Sydney - Christchurch. April 10. Boeing 707, VH-EBL "City of Geelong"  I was a student in Christchurch in 1965 and remember this flight doing a flyover of Christchurch on its arrival. I was having a beer in the beer garden of a pub who's name I can't remember at the corner of Bealey Ave and Papanui Rd when it flew over, rather low and very impressively.  Qantas Boeing 707 The "V Jet" referred to the fan jet engines Qantas had on its 707's, V for vanus, fan - they were high by-pass engines for their day. Qantas had a special long range version. Boeing 707 Site	Sydney - Christchurch   Christchurch - Sydney
1965 Inaugural Air New Zealand jet service, Sydney- Auckland. November 24. Flown by Air New Zealand's first jet aircraft - the McDonnell Douglas DC8-52. TEAL was relaunched as Air New Zealand on April 1 1965.   Air New Zealand DC8 Page  Another   For more on the routes and stamps follow these links THE STAMPS   MAP	New Zealand - New Zealand
1965 Pan Am commences jet service LA to Auckland - November, B707 "Jet- Clipper". A name redolent of the 1930's. Pan Am replaced DC-7Cs with these, later B747s, an aircraft it pioneered. It lasted flying to Auckland until 1986, and finally collapsed in 1991 - a sad end to a once proud venture.   B707 There is a photo of a Pan Am DC-7C at Whenuapai here. When I moved to Auckland in 1958 I stayed with my parents in the Mon Desir hotel in Takapuna. Pan Am crews stayed there as well. The hostesses ate with their forks in their right hands - extraordinary! We were invited by one crew out to Whenuapai and shown over their aircraft - I think a DC6. Such access of course was before aircraft terrorism was even thought of. Later in the early 80's when I was civil maintenance engineer at Auckland Airport the Pan Am guys were always the easiest to deal with -  friendly and obliging.	US to Auckland   Auckland to Papeete
1965 Fiji - Auckland BOAC B707 26 - 27 November.  This was not a through route, but a trip on from Auckland.	Fiji- NZ
1966 Inaugural flights to Hong Kong (March 3), Singapore (April 6) and Mexico, Air New Zealand DC8-52 At the old terminal, Mangere.	Hong Kong to NZ NZ to Hong Kong NZ to Singapore Mexico to NZ
1973 Auckland - Rarotonga Jet Service, Air New Zealand DC8-52, December 2.This was the opening year of Rarotonga's airport. DC8 at Rarotonga	1973 Jet service to Rarotonga
1978 Apia, Samoa to Auckland, Polynesian Airlines. This service started with a wet leased B737 from Air New Zealand, later moving to Polynesian's own 737.	Apia- Auckland
1981 Waitangi, Chatham Islands  Well - still within New Zealand but a long way over water. It would even be across the dateline if it didn't do a convenient bend. The flight marked the opening of new Chathams airport, CHT, with a sealed runway 30 June 1981. SAFE Air B170 A B170 is pictured on the 5c stamp on the cover at the right. The first flights to the Chathams were from 1946 by RNZAF flying boats: Catalinas and Sunderlands. Mail was carried. Services were provided quarterly  from 1950-1954 by TEAL Solent flying boat.  RNZAF Sunderlands returned until 1967. One was lost there in 1959. The Hapupu grass strip opened in 1957. NAC flew a DC3 to the Chathams in 1958 but only charter operations followed. The regular Chatham Island landplane run began with an RNZAF trial flight on May 3rd, 1967 with regular service starting two days later. This task was passed to SAFE Air Ltd on January 20, 1968. Both used B170's flying to the Hapupu grass strip.  Later services, from June 16, 1982 were by Armstrong-Whitworth Argosys also belonging to SAFE Air. More on The Argosy	Souvenir cover with Moriori style postmark.
1986 Concorde Visit to Auckland G-BOAB April 1986 This was a charter flight to view Halley's Comet - best seen in the southern hemisphere on this celestial visit - but a disappointment compared to the much closer passage to earth in 1910. Concorde caused more excitement in Auckland than the comet. She is now on out-door display at Heathrow - Google Earth link	UK to Auckland Auckland to UK
1992 Albatross Jet Seaplane visit, Beriev A-40 A bit of nostalgia here - the last big seaplane to visit - bar the local Catalina which is not often in the water. A-40 Page	USSR to Auckland
	Ditto
1994  Catalina flight from Zimbabwe to New Zealand. Delivered to a warbirds group. Not often seen on the water, but occasionally at Taupo: The Catalina Group	Zimbabwe- NZ

 Page author:  G Law

  November 06, 2018