On this day 80 years ago, the 30th of April 1940 TEAL made its first commercial flight. The flight was made by a TEAL S.30 Empire Class flying-boat – ZK-AMA 'Aotearoa' - between Auckland and Sydney (Captain J. W. Burgess) with 10 passengers. The flight departed at 0600 NZ time and covered the 1,345 miles across the Tasman in 9 hours 30 minutes, returning to NZ May 2nd.
ZK-AMA flew her final Sydney - Auckland S-30 Empire service - October 29, 1947, its 442nd trans-Tasman crossing.
The original holdings in TEAL were New Zealand Government 20%, Union Airways 19%, BOAC 38% and Qantas 23%. The board reported to the Tasman Air Commission, which itself reported to the New Zealand, Australian and British Governments.
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| ZK-AMA preparing to land at Waitemata Harbour Auckland after the first commercial service from Sydney, May 2, 1940. |
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