50 Year Celebrations for Air New Zealand and Brisbane

Air New Zealand this week celebrates 50 years of operations between New Zealand and Brisbane.

TEAL, the forerunner to Air New Zealand, undertook the first flight from Auckland to Brisbane on 4 July 1959, operated by a 56 seat DC-6.

The service was originally a three month trial and has gone from strength to strength since, with Air New Zealand now crossing the Tasman 4,000 times per year to and from Brisbane.

Today, Air New Zealand has the largest capacity share on the Tasman between New Zealand and Brisbane operating an average 37 return services, more than 13,000 seats, per week.

Air New Zealand Group General Manager Short Haul Airlines Bruce Parton says Queenslanders have always been attracted to New Zealand’s dramatic scenery, especially during winter.

“Even in the current challenging economic climate we are continuing to build on our capacity into and out of Brisbane. Earlier this year, as a result of strong demand from Queensland, we added an additional third direct service from Brisbane to Queenstown over the peak winter months, and have just announced a new weekly direct Brisbane-Queenstown summer service.”

Mr Parton says Kiwis also have a long-standing love affair with Queensland, many regularly making the trip across the Tasman to visit friends and family based there and to enjoy the sunny weather.

“Brisbane is a great destination, a cosmopolitan city with world-class galleries and a wonderful café culture which has retained the laid-back attitude of a small community, and also the gateway to Queensland, opening up the beautiful coast and all of the activities on offer.”

Air New Zealand currently flies between the Queensland hub of Brisbane and Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Queenstown.

“Australia is New Zealand’s most important tourism market, responsible for 40% of our total visitor arrivals. We are working hard in Queensland to grow visitor numbers into New Zealand and have launched a number of successful promotions including the Big Shout, where a free domestic flight was given for each Tasman flight purchased,” says Mr Parton.

The routes are currently operated by Air New Zealand’s Airbus A320 and Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, a far cry from the first flight operated by a DC-6. Two years later in 1961 the DC-6 was replaced by an Electra. Over the years these aircraft have been followed by the DC-8, DC-10, Boeing 737-300, Boeing 767-200 and 767-300 and also the 747-200 and 747-400.