Union Airways of N.Z. Ltd was New Zealand's first major airline.

History

The Union Steamship Company took shares in East Coast Airways in 1934 and in Cook Strait Airways in 1935, and later that year amalgamated these into a new national airway, on 5 January 1936 opening services between Palmerston North and Dunedin via Blenheim and Christchurch. Equipped with a variety of deHavilland types and later Lockheed Electra

Lockheed Model 10 Electra

The Lockheed Model 10 Electra was a twin-engine, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2...

s, in June 1937 a twice-daily service, between Auckland and Wellington, was started. By 1939 the company was operating multi-hop flights from Auckland to Dunedin, Palmerston North to Christchurch, Palmerston North to Gisborne, and Auckland to Gisborne. Union had also been instrumental in the establishment of Australian National Airways

Australian National Airways

Australian National Airways was Australia's predominant carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s.-The Holyman Airways Period:On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.II VH-UEE Miss Launceston between Launceston, Tasmania and Flinders...

 and TEAL

TEAL

Tasman Empire Airways Limited was the forerunner of Air New Zealand. It was first registered in Wellington as a limited liability company on 26 April 1940....

. After the war Union Airways acquired Lockheed Lodestar

Lockheed Lodestar

The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar was a passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era.-Design and development:The prototype of the Lockheed Model 18, which first flew in 1939, was constructed from one of a batch of Lockheed Model 14 Super Electras which had been returned to the manufacturer by...

s. In 1947 the government nationalised

Nationalization

Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...

 Union Airways and formed NAC

National Airways Corporation

National Airways Corporation was the national domestic airline of New Zealand from 1947 until 1978 when it amalgamated with New Zealand's international airline, Air New Zealand. The airline was headquartered in Wellington...

.