History
Air New Zealand began as TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited) in 1940, operating Short Empire flying boats on trans-Tasman routes. Following World War II, TEAL operated weekly flights from Auckland to Sydney, and added Wellington and Fiji to its routings. The New Zealand and Australian governments purchased 50% stakes in TEAL in 1953, and the airline ended flying boat operations in favour of propeller airliners by 1960. With the introduction of the DC-8 in 1965, TEAL became Air New Zealand—the New Zealand government having purchased Australia's 50% stake in the carrier.
With the increased range of the DC-8s, its first jet aircraft, Air New Zealand began transpacific services to the United States and Asia, and added Los Angeles and Honolulu as destinations in 1965. The airline further acquired wide-body DC-10 airliners, the first of which arrived in 1973.
In 1978, the domestic airline National Airways Corporation (NAC) and its subsidiary Safe Air were merged into Air New Zealand to form a single national airline, further expanding the carrier's operations. In 1981, Air New Zealand added the first Boeing 747 aircraft to its fleet.
In 1982, Air New Zealand initiated service to London, United Kingdom. 1985 saw the introduction of Boeing 767-200ER airliners, and in 1989 the airline was privatised with a sale to a consortium headed by Brierley Investments Ltd. (with remaining stakes held by Qantas, Japan Airlines, American Airlines, and the New Zealand government). The New Zealand air transport market underwent deregulation in 1990, prompting Air New Zealand to acquire a 50% stake in Ansett Australia in 1995. From 1999 through 2000, Air New Zealand became embroiled in an ownership battle over Ansett with co-owner News Limited over a possible sale of the underperforming carrier to Singapore Airlines.
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