Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL) inaugurated the first regular trans-Tasman airmail service from Auckland to Sydney on 30 April 1940. The plane was the Short S30 Empire flying boat Aotearoa and the flight took 9 hours.
The Aotearoa, commanded by Capt. J.W. Burgess, had been flown from Southampton to Auckland on 16 - 28 August 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II on 3 September. No official mail was flown although some unofficial covers were carried.
Two flying boats were required to set up a regular trans-Tasman service and the second Empire flying boat, the Awarua, did not arrive until 3 April 1940. Meanwhile, the Aotearoa flew survey flights and an official airmail was carried on two flights from Fiji to Auckland in September and from Fiji and Tonga in October 1939.
TEAL was a joint venture of BOAC, Qantas Empire Airways
and Union Airways of New Zealand and was subsidised by the three
governments [1].
Start of regular service to Australia and UK
The first flight left Auckland at 6 am on Tuesday 30 April and landed in Sydney 9 hours later. Special covers were produced and a cachet was applied at Auckland. 40,000 letters were carried to Sydney of which more than half were carried on onward flights.
As there was a connection at Sydney with the regular Australia - UK service, this was also the start of a through New Zealand - UK regular airmail service.
This cover is postmarked in Wellington on 11 April and is addressed to the UK.
Due to the war, letters were normally opened by a censor in New Zealand.
This letter has not been opened and has no censor marks.
The next cover to the UK is postmarked on 24 April in Auckland. It has been opened by the censor and re-sealed with censor tape.
The onward Sydney - Singapore flight was by Qantas while the Singapore - UK flight was by BOAC which had replaced Imperial Airways on 1 April, 1940.
The first through airmails left Sydney on flight SW237 on 1 May and
arrived at Poole Marine Airport in Dorset, England on 12 May 1940 [2].
It was not backstamped on arrival.
The next cover to the UK is postmarked in Auckland on 27 April and is franked with an attractive combination of the Centennial Commemoratives.
It was not opened and resealed by the censors, but has a Passed by Censor mark on the back.
Capt. J W Burgess was in command of the flight and had a crew of 6 with 9 passengers [1].
Few covers have been identified as having been posted in Britain and flown
on the first flight as the availability of the service was not made
known in the UK until the issue of a Press Notice on 1 May, but I could not find
the report in any issues of the The Times around that date.
The National Air Communications Intelligence Summary 46 on 1 May
reports the service [4] as does OMB Report 34 on 4 May [5].
The National Air Communications Intelligence Summary 46 was renamed
Civil Aviation Intelligence Summary starting on the following week 8 May [4].
To Australia
The rate to the UK was 1s 6d while the rate to Australia was 5d.
Letters to Australia were backstamped 3pm 30 April at Sydney, but no backstamp was applied to letters destined for the UK.
The first flight was by the Aotearoa, a picture of which is
shown on this cover.
Postcard to Australia
Postcards to Australia cost 3d. This example is of a 1d postcard uprated with 2d.
Mail for the flight closed in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland at midnight on Friday 26 April so that the large mail could be handled and the commemorative cachets applied.
A lot of the mail for the flight was sent under cover from the rest
of New Zealand to Auckland where, like this example, it was postmarked on 27 April [1].
Mail to Monte Carlo
Mail could be sent to intermediate destinations. This cover would be off-loaded at Marignane airport near Marseilles on 11 May from where it would be taken by train to Monte Carlo.
According to Airmail Schedule No 6 published on 26 April 1940, the air mail rate to France was increased to 2s 3d to cover the cost of the trans-Tasman flight. However, although this cover is only franked with the pre trans Tasman rate to France of 1s 9d, it does not have any postage due markings.
The cost of air mail to British Empire countries was not increased
with the introduction of the trans-Tasman service while there was an
extra 6d on the rate to non-Empire countries [3].
Service from Australia
The return flight of the Aotearoa from Sydney to Auckland was the first flight in the regular service from Australia and was given the code SA1 [2]. The plane left Sydney at 4 am on the morning of 2 May and the flight took 8 hours [1].
The cover is postmarked in Sydney on 1 May, 1940.
The backstamps show that the cover arrived in Auckland on May 2 and in Russell on May 3.
Mail from the UK could connect with this flight, but the only
indication that this had happened is the Auckland backstamp.
As the significance of the backstamp was not widely
recognised, few covers from the UK have been preserved.
The new trans-Tasman service was not announced in Britain until 1 May
and so collectors there could not prepare special covers.
The next example is a card addressed to Ernest Crome and, as a postcard, has franking of 3d. It is postmarked in Sydney on 1 May 1940 and, after being flown from Sydney to Auckland on 2 May, was backstamped at Palmerston North at 7.45 am on 3 May.
The card has been signed by the commander: Capt. J.W. Burgess, First Officer W.J. Craig and the rest of the crew of the Aotearoa. This was the same crew that had made the flight from New Zealand.
The interesting point about this card is that it
was first flown across the Tasman by Charles
Ulm in the Faith in Australia in
December 1933.
The first official trans Tasman airmail
was then flown by
Ulm on the return flight two months later in February 1934.
The cards were originally prepared by Ulm to help finance the 1933 flight. 300 cards were then obtained by Crome who sent them on various later flights.
The card has Ulm's signature together with new information added
about the use of the card on its second flight across the Tasman
from Australia to New Zealand.
back next
All scans were made by the author.
[1] Airmails of New Zealand, volume 2, D A Walker, 1986,
Air Mail Society of New Zealand
[2] Bridging the Continents in Wartime: Important Airmail Routes 1939-45,
H. E. Aitink and E. Hovenkamp, SLTW, Enschede, 2005.
[3] Airmails of New Zealand, volume 3, R.M.
Startup, 1997,
Air Mail Society of New Zealand
[4] Extracts from the Air Ministry Civil Aviation Reports Summaries,
compiled by P. Wingent, West Africa Study Circle, 2010.
[5] Overseas Mails Branch Weekly Reports Nos. 17-68, 1940, POST 56/76, Royal Mail Archive.