Although there were
experimental air mails
between 1930 and 1932,
the first regular service did not start until late 1934.
Airmails were developed along
with freight and passenger services.
The first regular New Zealand airmail service
connected Hokitika with Haast and
Okuru in December 1934.
It was operated by Air Travel (NZ).
East Coast Airways set up the first New Zealand licensed
passenger service in April 1935 between
Gisborne and Napier,
but they could only carry airmail on the first day of
the service.
A regular airmail service was not added
until December 1936.
On 16 March 1936, regular airmail services were started by
Cook Strait Airways
between Wellington in the North Island and Nelson and Blenheim in the
South Island and by
Union Airways
between Palmerston North and
Dunedin via Blenheim and Christchurch.
There was a connection between the two services at Blenheim.
In February 1937, the Cook Strait Airways service was
extended from
Nelson to Hokitika
thereby connecting the Air Travel (NZ)
Hokitika-Okuru service with the rest of the network.
In June 1937 Union Airways started a service between
Auckland and Wellington
connecting with their service to
the South Island at Palmerston North and with Cook
Strait Airways at Wellington.
In October 1937, East Coast Airways extended their
Gisborne-Napier
service to Palmerston North
and so connected with
the rest of the network.
By October 1937 the routes were as shown in the map.
The routes operated by the different companies are shown
in different colours.
- East Coast Airways (orange),
- Cook Strait Airways (blue),
- Union Airways (red),
- Air Travel (NZ) (green)
details
All scans were made by the author.
Information on this page is taken from:
Airmails of New Zealand, volume 1 (1955) compiled by Douglas A Walker,
and the New Zealand Airmail Catalogue, (2nd Edition, 1994)
by James Stapleton.
Both are published by the
Air Mail Society of New Zealand