Aviation Museum Prices

[Dave Homewood]

I thought it might be interesting to compare the prices of the various aviation museums in NZ, and see which ones are the best value for money. it's interesting to see which ones give concessions to Senior Citizens and to students, etc.

These are randomly listed:

Motat - The Museum of Transport and Technology, Auckland
Adults $14
Children (under 16) $7
Senior Citizens $7
Family (2 adults and up to 4 children) $30
Children under 5 years are free

The Auckland War Memorial Museum
This is an odd one because to see the whole musuem they now ask for a donation (of $5.00 per person from memory) but if you tell them you're only going to the War Memorial floor, you get in for free! On that floor is the Spitfire and Zero, and a world class collection of other items going back to the Maori Wars, Boer War, WWI and WWII, etc. I prefer to give the donation anyway.

The New Zealand Fighter Pilot's Museum, Wanaka
Adults: $10-00
Children: $5-00
Family: $25-00 (2 adults/3 children)
Seniors & Groups: $9-00 (15+)

The RNZAF Musuem, Wigram, Christchurch
Adult $15
Child (School age) $5
Pre-Schooler FREE
Family (Includes 2 adults plus school age children) $30
Student $9
Senior Citizen $9

The RNZAF Musuem Exhibition Centre, Ohakea
Adult $8
Child (School age) $3
Pre-Schoolers Free
Family (Two adults and school age children) $18

Gisborne Aviation Preservation Society
Cannot find admission details

Classic Flyers, Tauranga
Seniors $5.00
Adults $10.00
Child (5-15 years) $5.00
Family (2 adults, 3 children) $25.00 - save $10.00

The George Hood Museum, Masterton
Cannot find admission details

The Aviation Heritage Centre, Omaka
Adult (15 yrs+) $18.00
Child (5 - 14 yrs) $7.00
Infant (under 5) Free
NZ Student $14.00
Seniors (60+) $14.00

Family Concession 1 (1 adult & 2 children) $26.00
Family Concession 2 (2 adults & 1 child) $34.00
Family Concession 3 (2 adults & 2 children) $40.00
Each extra child $5.00

The Ashburton Aviation Museum
Donation Only

Have I missed any?

[Bruce]

generally I think NZ aviation museums are pretty good value, and I have no objections to paying, especially as in most cases the door takings barely cover the operating costs. There will be the comparisons to the UK where major museums have free entry (IWM London and Manchester, Science Museum, RAF Museum Hendon and Cosford etc) due to generous government funding. I dont think as a nation we can afford expenditure on such a scale, although keeping the Ohakea Museum open would be a step in the right direction!.
Just a couple you have missed there Dave, Ferrymead (which of course has far more than just the aviation section) The Nelson Founders Museum has some good aviation displays (Its been a few years since I was there so can't remember the entrance charges, sorry) and the Taranaki Aviation, Transport and Technology Museum charges something like $4.00 - when it is open.
Being a "Museum Junkie", I dont mind if they have more than just an "aviation section" as some general history displays are well worth seeing too.
very useful listing Dave, thanks for putting that together.

[Dave Homewood]

No worries. I knew I'd probably missed a few. Another museum I highly recommend though it has no aircraft is the Brayshaw Park museum at Blenheim. it has excellent sections dedicated to Marlborough's military and aviation past.

Omaka may seem a bit higher at $18 but it is certainly the most worthwhile museum I have visited in many years. It has really opened my eyes to WWI aviation like no book or website or documentary has done before.

And lets face it, even $18 is cheap, some of the UK museums you mention I visited whilst in Britain (Hendon, and IWM Lambeth, as well as The Science Museum). They are all indeed free now but back then they were 6.50 pounds entry from memory. Well worth it, but that equates to more than $18 anyway, and I'm talking 1993/94 and 1996/97.

We're very lucky to be an aviation minded country and thus for a small population have a lot of good museums, all of which seem to get better and better over time.