Air New Zealand domestic trunk service timetable 1986/1987

Although domestic airline services had been liberalised, there was no serious competition on the "main trunk" route that was always the backbone of New Zealand domestic airline services - Auckland-Wellington-Christchurch.

Air New Zealand, then a fully NZ Government owned company, was the sole operator, using Boeing 737-200 series (by 1986 a mix of the advanced series and even one QC model) in a single class configuration.  This timetable depicts the frequency of its services over the summer season 1986-1987 excluding the Christmas-New Year holiday season (through till late January). 

The timetable depicts most of the 737 routes, namely Auckland-Wellington, Auckland-Christchurch, Wellington-Christchurch, Auckland-Dunedin (note only one of those services was non-stop), Christchurch-Invercargill, Christchurch-Dunedin (one service operated by Fokker F-27 Friendship, which operated on all regional routes), Wellington-Dunedin. 

What else is notable is the use of international LOPA (Layout of Passenger Accommodation) Boeing 767-200s and Boeing 747-200s on occasional services between Auckland and Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch, and Wellington and Christchurch. As Boeing 747s cannot operate commercial services from Wellington, this meant 747s operated Auckland-Christchurch only, but 767s would operate the other routes. I did, once, fly Christchurch-Wellington on a 767, which was my very first flight on a wide bodied jet (in economy class).

Interesting also is Air NZ was selling business class (branded Pacific Class at the time) on those services, before Ansett New Zealand started flying in 1987 (which Air NZ matched by quickly introducing business class on domestic 737 aircraft).  Pacific Class at the time was a product that today resembles premium economy class, at least in terms of seating, and was reminiscent of most business classes at the time, which very much was intended to bridge the gap between first and economy class (and was relatively new). 

Two questions I don't know the answer to are:

• Was the First Class cabin on domestic Boeing 747 flights ever used if loadings justified it, or for high value customers in Pacific Class (it seems unlikely many such seats would have been sold).
• Was domestic Pacific Class anything more than just the larger seats (i.e. any catering to match)? This also seems unlikely to be justified for flights that operated at a low level of regularity.

This was very much the twilight period before competition emerged on the main trunk, which would change everything

Air New Zealand main trunk domestic timetable Oct86-Mar87

Air New Zealand main trunk domestic timetable Oct86-Mar87

Air Albatross

In 1981 a small airline was founded in Wellington called Air Albatross, starting with a Cessna 402 between Wellington and Blenheim and Nelson, it challenged the dominance of Air New Zealand, at a time when competition between airlines domestically was highly regulated. That would shortly change when the Muldoon Government liberalised domestic air competition. 

Air Albatross started operation under the highly regulated market, whereby it had to not only prove it was fit to operate an airline, but that there was underlying demand not being met by incumbents. This rule effectively protected Air New Zealand (and a handful of other airlines on routes Air New Zealand, and its predecessor, National Airways Corporation (NAC) did not wish to operate). 

The story of Air Albatross is well and truly written in the blog 3rd Level New Zealand which I will not attempt to replicate. It is interesting to me, from a public policy perspective, about the tortuous conditions new entrants to the airline industry had to accept, from capacity to frequency to airfares, before such rules were scrapped two years later.

Below is an article from the Dominion in 1981 (undated) about the airline's expansion.

Purpose of this blog

Welcome to this eclectic blog which contains snippets of New Zealand airline history almost entirely from the 1970s-1990s (with some elements before and after). It comes from my personal archive of material I have obtained since childhood and periodically in my travels since, and my interest in ensuring it is available to anyone with a wider interest in the topic.

It ranges from newspaper clippings, to timetables, leaflets and other items I have collected. With each item, I will write a little about why I think it is of historic significance, or how I got it (if that matters).

It has a focus on Wellington, where I grew up, but the generosity of umpteen people who knew I had this interest in my childhood saw me receive a range of objects that may be of interest.  I apologise in advance for some materials which are undated, as I was too young to realise that this might matter at a later date.

Any feedback is welcome. The order of what I post will depend both on when items are found as I go through boxes of stuff (so there may be no date order to anything), and how busy I am otherwise, so there will be days and weeks between posts from time to time.

I also intend to set up similar blogs for other modes of transport I have an interest in, including railways, roads, shipping and urban public transport. I also have a small number of items from foreign airlines, mostly Australia, and will set up a separate blog for those in due course.