National Airways Corporation

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National Airways Corporation billboard.

National Airways Corporation was the national domestic airline of New Zealand formed in 1947 by a government forced take over of Union Airways and a number of other smaller operators, and equipped with de Havilland Dragon Rapides, de Havilland Fox Moths, Douglas DC-3s, Lockheed Electras and Lockheed 14s which initially operated inside New Zealand. However in the late 1940s NAC also provided international services to some nearby South Pacific countries, using converted ex Royal New Zealand Air Force Short Sunderlands.

In the 1950s NAC acquired de Havilland Herons, Vickers Viscounts and in the 1960s Fokker Friendships and Boeing 737s. A fully owned subsidiary was the freight company SAFE Air, which operated Bristol Freighters and Armstrong Whitworth Argosys.

NAC merged with Air New Zealand in 1978.

Ex NAC Dragon Rapides, Fox Moths, and DC-3s still fly in private hands. All three, as well as two ex-NAC Lockheed Electras are preserved at the Museum of Transport and Technology, Auckland. A Vickers Viscount is preserved at Ferrymead in Christchurch. Some Friendships continue in service in Indonesia. One of the converted RNZAF Sunderlands was until recently airworthy with Kermit Weeks collection.

See also

• New Zealand National Airways Corporation Flight 441

External links

• [Airline History - NZNAC]

References

• Peter Aimer, Wings of the Nation: A History of the New Zealand National Airways Corporation 1947–1978, published 2000.

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