NZ’s first regular airmail service begins

The first flight of the Canterbury Aviation Company’s new airmail service took off from the western outskirts of Christchurch, bound for Ashburton and Timaru.

George Bolt had made the first official airmail flight in New Zealand in December 1919, from Auckland to Dargaville. The Canterbury Aviation Company hoped to go one better with a regular service using an Avro 504K biplane. But this failed to gain the custom it needed to make a profit and closed in April. Bolt’s attempt to establish a regular service between Auckland and Whāngārei also ran into trouble and closed a month later.

The Canterbury Aviation Company was established as a private flying school in 1916 by Sir Henry Wigram, the ‘father of aviation in New Zealand’. As New Zealand had no air force, the company trained pilots for service with British air forces during the First World War.

In 1923 the New Zealand government purchased the land and assets of the company as the base for its newly formed air force. The airfield was renamed ‘Wigram’ in honour of its founder. Wigram was the main training base for Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot trainees, navigators and other aircrew until its closure in 1995. The Air Force Museum of New Zealand remains at Wigram.

Image: early airmail flight (Te Ara)