Tasman Empire Airways Limited
New Zealand international airline, 1940–1965 / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tasman Empire Airways Limited (1940–1965), better known as TEAL, is the former name of Air New Zealand.[1][2]
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2014) |
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Founded | 26 April 1940 (1940-04-26) | ||||||
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Ceased operations | 1 April 1965 (1965-04-01), renamed Air New Zealand Limited[1] | ||||||
Fleet size | 18 | ||||||
Destinations | Auckland, Sydney, Wellington, Melbourne, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands, Tahiti, Christchurch | ||||||
Headquarters | Auckland, New Zealand |
TEAL was formed by the Intergovernmental Agreement for Tasman Sea Air Services (also known as the Tasman Sea Agreement), which is a treaty signed by the governments of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand in London on 10 April 1940.[3] TEAL was first registered in Wellington as a limited liability company on 26 April 1940. The company's purpose was originally to transport mail, passengers and cargo across the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, during World War II. The treaty was originally intended to end within three months after hostilities with Germany ended, but it was extended in 1949[4] and ultimately ended on 31 March 1954,[5] with control and ownership passing into normal commercial arrangements.
Shares in the company were originally held by the New Zealand Government (20%), Union Airways (19%), BOAC (38%) and Qantas (23%). After World War II shareholding passed to equal ownership by the governments of New Zealand and Australia. Four Short Sandringham aircraft and Short Solent aircraft were acquired, as well as an ex-Royal New Zealand Air Force Consolidated PBY Catalina for survey flights.