Air New Zealand's Airbus A320s currently operate short-haul routes, both domestically and internationally.
The history of aviation in New Zealand began in the late 19th century when balloon flights began. In the first decade of the 20th century, several New Zealanders began developing heavier-than-air craft. The first confirmed powered flight in New Zealand being made by Richard Pearse in 1902 though is considered uncontrolled.
The First World War spurred the development of aviation in New Zealand. A flying school was established and several hundred New Zealanders went on to serve in British flying services in Europe.
After the war, the civil aviation industry began to take shape as aero clubs became active from the late 1920s and Trans-Tasman flights were attempted. The first major commercial aviation company, Union Airways of New Zealand, began services in 1936. Meanwhile, the nation had established its own air service, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and during the Second World War it played a significant part in the country's contributions to the Allied war effort with thousands of New Zealanders being trained under the Empire Air Training Scheme and serving in Europe, the Mediterranean and the Pacific as part of both mixed Commonwealth formations and primarily New Zealand-manned squadrons.
In the post war years, the RNZAF acquired jet fighters, helicopters, maritime patrol and transport aircraft. The civil aviation industry also continued to grow with the national carrier, Air New Zealand, being formed in the 1960s, operating alongside smaller operators domestically, and internationally.
Pioneer aviation
New Zealand saw its first balloon flights in 1889. In 1894, a young American woman, Leila Adair, toured New Zealand, attracting large crowds to watch her parachute from a hot-air balloon. The first recorded aviation fatality came in 1899, when David Mahoney, known as 'Captain Lorraine' perished after his balloon was blown out to sea off Lyttelton.[1]
Several New Zealanders came close to building and flying heavier-than-air craft in the first decade of the twentieth century. Richard Pearse, working in isolation in South Canterbury, built a monoplane powered by a two-cylinder engine. He may have attempted flights as early as 1901, and there is contested evidence that he made a significant powered 'hop' in 1903, before the Wright Brothers.[2]
Herbert Pither built a plane at Invercargill in 1910, but was apparently unsuccessful in achieving sustained flights in tests there and at Timaru. Arthur Schaef made short powered hops in his first aircraft, the New Zealand Vogel, at Lyall Bay, Wellington, in 1911. The engine from this aircraft was later used in successful flights in the Wairarapa by Percy Fisher in 1913.[3] The first confirmed powered flight in New Zealand was made by Vivian Walsh in 1911. Vivian Walsh and his brother Leo imported and assembled a Howard Wright 1909 Biplane, which Vivian Flew at Papakura on 5 February 1911.[4]
Regulation of civil aviation was provided by a 1919 act of Parliament, which provided for registration of aircraft and licensing of pilots, flying schools, and personnel, as well as the registration of aircraft, and other matters. Aero clubs became active from the late 1920s, and the government provided some training aircraft and subsidies. Commercial aviation also began in the 1920s with some short-lived operations. The first major company was Union Airways of New Zealand, which began services in 1936 between Palmerston North and Dunedin via Blenheim and Christchurch. By 1939 the company was flying between Auckland, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.[citation needed]
Trans-Tasman flights were attempted from the late 1920s. John Moncrieff and George Hood disappeared while making an attempt in early 1928. Later that year, Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew flew from Sydney to Christchurch. Further flights across the Tasman followed, and by 1940 Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL), jointly owned by Union Airways, Imperial Airways, Qantas Empire Airways, and the New Zealand Government was able to start scheduled services. Flying boat services across the Pacific to the United States were also developed by TEAL and Pan Am.[citation needed]
New Zealand received a number of surplus military aircraft from the United Kingdom after the First World War as part of the Imperial Gift.[7] The New Zealand Permanent Air Force was established in 1923, as part of the New Zealand Army. Bases were established at Wigram in Christchurch and Hobsonville in Auckland. A British mission led by Ralph Cochrane in 1936 led to the establishment of the separate Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1937, with Cochrane as the first Chief of Staff. New aircraft were ordered, and bases developed at Ohakea and Whenuapai as part of a new government focus on aerial defences.[citation needed]
At the outbreak of war in 1939, the RNZAF was awaiting the delivery of 30 Vickers Wellington bombers. These aircraft, and crews, were offered back to the United Kingdom, and became No. 75 Squadron RAF. New Zealand became a major source of aircrew for the RAF, forming part of the Empire Air Training Scheme. The RNZAF itself expanded dramatically, to over thirty squadrons, many of which saw operational service in the Pacific.[citation needed]
There had been some experiments with aerial topdressing in the 1930s and these continued after the war. By the early 1950s over thirty firms were operating, mainly using the de Havilland Tiger Moth. Specialist aircraft were developed, starting with the Fletcher Fu24, from an American design. Pacific Aerospace produced the Fletcher and other later designs. TEAL had maintained its trans-Tasman service during the war. After the war, its flying boats serviced the Coral Route to Tahiti via Fiji, Samoa and the Cook Islands from 1951 to 1960. TEAL became fully owned by the New Zealand government in 1961, and became Air New Zealand in 1965.[citation needed]
Union Airways was merged into the government-owned New Zealand National Airways Corporation (NAC) in 1945. NAC took over other private interests, and expanded air services nationwide. Main aircraft types operated by NAC included the Douglas DC-3, de Havilland Heron, Vickers Viscount, Fokker F27, and the Boeing 737. Straits Air Freight Express (SAFE Air) was established in 1950 as a specialist freight carrier across Cook Strait, operating the Bristol Type 170 Freighter Mk.31. SAFE Air was bought by NAC in 1972 and became a separate maintenance operation under Air New Zealand before being sold in 2015. NAC was merged into Air New Zealand in 1978 to form one government-owned airline for domestic and international services.[citation needed]
Postwar RNZAF
40 Squadron Boeing 757-200 and C-130H Hercules flanked by 5 Squadron P-3K Orions breaking formation during the Whenuapai air show in March 2009.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Permanent Air Force, becoming an independent air force on 1 April 1937.
George Bruce Bolt was a pioneering New Zealand aviator.
The de Havilland Express, also known as the de Havilland D.H.86, was a four-engined passenger aircraft manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company between 1934 and 1937.
Christchurch Airport is the main airport that serves Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) to the northwest of the city centre, in the suburb of Harewood. Christchurch (Harewood) Airport officially opened on 18 May 1940 and became New Zealand's first international airport on 16 December 1950. It is the second busiest airport in New Zealand, after Auckland and before Wellington by annual passengers, and the second busiest, after Auckland, by aircraft movements.
Tasman Empire Airways Limited (1940–1965), better known as TEAL, is the former name of Air New Zealand.
Whenuapai is a suburb and aerodrome located in northwestern Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the shore of the Upper Waitematā Harbour, 15 kilometres to the northwest of Auckland's city centre. It is one of the landing points for the Southern Cross telecommunications Cables.
New Zealand National Airways Corporation, popularly known as NAC, established by the New Zealand National Airways Act, 1945, was the national domestic airline of New Zealand until 1978 when it amalgamated with New Zealand's international airline, Air New Zealand. The airline was headquartered in Wellington.
No. 40 Squadron RNZAF is a transport squadron in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). Established in June 1943, it remains on active duty.
Air Vice Marshal Sir Leonard Monk Isitt was a New Zealand military aviator and senior air force commander. In 1943 he became the first New Zealander to serve as the Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, a post he held until 1946. At the close of World War II, Isitt was the New Zealand signatory to the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. After the war, following retirement from the Air Force, he worked as chairman of Tasman Empire Airways.
Whangārei Airport is an airport 4 nautical miles to the south east of Whangārei city, in the suburb of Onerahi, on the east coast of Northland in the North Island of New Zealand. The airport has a single terminal with two gates.
The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a science and technology museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has large collections of civilian and military aircraft and other land transport vehicles. An ongoing programme is in place to restore and conserve items in the collections. This work is largely managed by volunteers but, since the passing of the Museum of Transport and Technology Act in 2000, has been supported by full-time professional museum staff. New public programmes and facilities now promote the collections.
Wigram Aerodrome is located in the Christchurch suburb of Sockburn, later to be split-suburb of Wigram and now split again as Wigram Skies. It was gifted by Sir Henry Wigram for the Canterbury (NZ) Aviation Company on 20 September 1916 and originally named Sockburn Airport. In 1923 that was then gifted to the Crown as a Royal New Zealand Air Force base. Charles Kingsford Smith made the first Trans-Tasman flight from Sydney to Wigram on 10 September 1928.
Air Commodore Keith Logan "Grid" Caldwell, was a New Zealand fighter ace of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War who also rose to the rank of air commodore in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the Second World War.
Union Airways of New Zealand Limited was New Zealand's first major airline. It was founded in 1935 by local shipping giant Union Company. Its services reached main centres from Auckland to Dunedin and extended to Gisborne and the West Coast of the South Island. Union Airways was instrumental in the establishment of Australian National Airways and TEAL.
The history of Air New Zealand, the national carrier of New Zealand, began when the amalgamated East Coast Airways and Cook Strait Airways began operations in January 1936 as Union Airways of New Zealand, the country's first major airline. Union Airways was the sole New Zealand aviation partner in Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL), which made its inaugural flight in 1940. The New Zealand Government bought full ownership of TEAL in 1961 and the airline was renamed Air New Zealand in 1965. New Zealand's domestic airline, National Airways Corporation (NAC), was merged with Air New Zealand in 1978. Air New Zealand was privatised in 1989 but in 2001 the New Zealand Government took up 80% ownership in return for injecting $885 million after the airline ran into financial difficulty. In November 2013, the National government sold down its share in Air New Zealand from 73% to 53% as part of its controversial asset sales programme.
Captain Malcolm Charles McGregor was a New Zealand born World War I flying ace. He was credited with 11 victories during the war. Postwar, he was an aviation pioneer in his home country, a competitor in intercontinental air racing and held the rank of squadron leader in the New Zealand Territorial Air Force.
Mangere Aerodrome, named after a nearby suburb, was the original home of the Auckland Aero Club. It is now the site of Auckland Airport. Mangere Aerodrome's claim to fame was as the arrival point for New Zealand aviator, and aeroclub member, Jean Batten's solo flight from the United Kingdom in 1936. The RNZAF requisitioned the aerodrome from 1939 until 1944, renaming it RNZAF Station Mangere. In 1961, the Auckland Aero Club moved to Ardmore aerodrome and Mangere Aerodrome closed. The new Auckland Airport opened in 1965.
No. 41 Squadron was a transport unit of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). The squadron was formed in 1944, and conducted transport flights in the south Pacific during World War II. It remained active after the war, and flew supplies to the New Zealand occupation force in Japan. Three crews from the squadron participated in the Berlin Airlift during 1948 and 1949, and one of its flights was temporarily based in Singapore from 1949 to 1951. From 1955 the entire squadron was stationed at Singapore, from where it participated in the Malayan Emergency, Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation and Vietnam War. Detachments of No. 41 Squadron were also based in Thailand from 1962 to 1965. The squadron was disbanded in 1977.
Warren Schrader was a New Zealand flying ace of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War. He was credited with the destruction of eleven enemy aircraft.
Developed as a long range maritime reconnaissance flying boat, the Short Sunderland was widely used during the Second World War. New Zealand purchased four Sunderlands in early 1944 for use as transport aircraft but did not receive them until the end of that year. They were operated by the Flying Boat Transport Flight of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) from February 1945, carrying cargo and repatriated New Zealand military personnel from the South Pacific back to New Zealand. They soon began carrying paying passengers and in late 1947 the Sunderlands were transferred to the New Zealand National Airways Corporation.
Ewing, Ross (1986). The History of New Zealand Aviation
Harrison, Paul & Lockstone, Brian (2000). A Century of Aviation in New Zealand
Martyn, Errol W. (2012). A Passion For Flight: New Zealand Aviation Before The Great War. Volume 1: Ideas, First Flight Attempts and the Aeronauts 1868–1909
McGreal, Maurice E. (2003). A History of Civil Aviation in New Zealand
Ogilvie, Gordon (1974). The Riddle of Richard Pearse
Wright, Matthew (2002). Wings over New Zealand: A Social History of New Zealand Aviation
Wright, Matthew (2015). Kiwi Air Power: A History of the RNZAF to the End of the Cold War
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