Sydney-Singapore DC-8 Inaugural flights

[petecarter]

Hi,

I'm a new member, and a history masters student down at Victoria University in Wellington. I'm writing a thesis this year on New Zealand-Singapore relations, 1950-67. One of the important parts in my concluding chapter is a small section on Air New Zealand's inauguration of Sydney-Singapore DC-8 flights, initially in 1966. The route was put on hold after ZK-NZB was written off on a training flight at the new Mangere airport. Since new aircraft didn't arrive until 1968, the service didn't restart until then.

I was wondering whether anyone had any photographs of the inaugural services or proving flights in 1966 or 1968 that I could use in this thesis? Any more information on the topic would also be of interest!

My general ideas on the sector was that it instigated a rather interesting history of Air New Zealand & later Singapore Airlines operations between the two countries. Obviously today Singapore is a great transport hub, but the planning for an Air New Zealand service in 1965/6 showed that it was quickly realised as a key location by the New Zealanders way back then. The recent Air New Zealand ditching of the 'unprofitable' Auckland-Singapore sector is also interesting in historic context, as the early service was initially unprofitable, but the airline gained out of joining a pool of Commonwealth airlines operating into Singapore.

My history is mainly a diplomatic/political history, so the other important factor about the inaugural flights were that key Singaporean politicians used the 1968 Singapore-Sydney-Auckland (I think) service to come over on an official visit. The Singaporean deputy PM, Toh Chin Chye came, and i think another minister may have, as well.

I look forward to reading anything anyone drags up, or any views on these flights.

Pete C.

[Dave Homewood]

Welcome to the forum Pete. Sorry I cannot help personally, but have you tried the George Bolt Memorial Library at Motat in Auckland? They may be able to assist I guess.

[petecarter]

Hi Dave, thanks for the welcome! I did a bit of a loop actually. I got in e-mail contact about the DC-8 issue with motat a few weeks ago. Their only lead was that they thought the Whites collection might have something in it, hence my other post. I had a bit of a run through some folders in the collection with no luck. I have a nagging feeling there may be something relevant in the collection still but the library team are assessing it currently, and I couldn't go any further without inconveniencing them.

I forgot to mention that I kindly got rights to use a shot of Air New Zealand's first DC-8 (ZK-NZA) at the Mangere airport opening, and which Colin Hunter put on Airliners.net. I will use this if nothing Singapore specific turns up, but thought I might be able to pick peoples' brains here. I was glad to find the board because I have been doing a bit of aviation history work at the university here and its a bit of a passion.

Thanks!

[Dave Homewood]

I would be surprised if Whites magazine and New Zealand Wings didn't run feayures at the time. Motat has all the Whites Magazines, if you send them the date it shouldn't be too much inconvenience to look up. And of course NZ Wings continues to exist as Pacific Wings, so they may be able to help. Good luck.

[corsair67]

Peter, have you tried contacting Air New Zealand as surely somewhere in their archive they must have photos of the event?

Good luck with your search.

[avenger]

The officiall inaugural flight by DC 8 to SIN was on 23 Mar 1968.
There were other prior flights, certainly in Feb of 1968.
The 23 rd flight by ZK-NZC, Captain (recently deceased) Jack Shorthouse, also Dalziell & Hoffman.
Air NZ did have a small historical branch and this would be a good place to commence the research.

[Dave Homewood]

Hi avenger, welcome to the forum. Thanks for that information.

Would that happen to be Arthur Hoffman you mention? I know he worked for NAC and Air New Zealand.

[corsair67]

The National Library could be another place to check, if you haven't already done so?

Their website does have a couple of DC8 photos online. The website address is -

timeframes.natlib.govt.nz/

[petecarter]

Hi, thanks for the good leads. I thought I would include the three paragraphs that are in the thesis to give an idea of what I have found out, and in case it is of interest to anyone. There's an obvious disclaimer-- these paragraphs are from a rough draft.

Whilst the uncertainties of the end of Konfrontasi were being played out, New Zealand’s relationship with Singapore was further transformed by the inauguration of a once weekly jet service. The Air New Zealand DC-8 service to Singapore from Sydney was inaugurated on April 6, 1966 to great fanfare. Along with a twice-weekly service to Hong Kong, the Singapore services and air agreements that enabled them were seen as key by NZDEA due to the “conjunction of interests in the area.” The Singapore service was “peculiarly important” to New Zealand’s national airline as it was in pool with other Commonwealth carriers on the route. It earned a large entitlement to revenue for its operating of the sector. The agreement with Malaysia allowed Air New Zealand to fly to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, or Jesselton. In return, Malaysia Airlines had access to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch airports. Although it was one of the pieces of international legislation that Singapore and Malaysia both agreed to honour initially after separation, by May 1966 New Zealand was renegotiating a new agreement with Singapore.

Weir’s initial feedback on the service was that the airline needed to consolidate its routes, as it would be hard pulling off a once weekly service. Furthermore, Weir thought a more flashy destination like Bali may work better. All Singapore flights came to a halt on 4th July 1966 though when a DC-8 training accident at Auckland’s new international airport left two crew dead and a brand new aircraft written off. NZDEA and the Department of Civil Aviation considered leasing a replacement DC-8 from Indonesian national airline, Garuda, in August, but when this feel through in early September it was clear that Air New Zealand would have to cancel the service. The approach to Garuda indicated the importance New Zealand authorities placed on the service. Weir had already requested McIntosh consider briefing NZDEA posts on civil aviation. But it was senior Singaporean Ministers, in this case who had to counsel caution. Deputy PM Toh who consulted Weir on the issue, explaining that de-confrontation plans were going slowly. On aviation matters the Singaporeans wanted to prevent being “diddled” as they had in the past by Indonesia’s restrictive practices in favour of Garuda.

The service could only restart after the delivery of replacement DC-8s but the leap into the jet age, especially for geographically isolated New Zealand, was a huge economic step. The Department of Civil Aviation’s 1967 acknowledged the “most noteworthy effect” the airline’s new services were having on the country’s balance of payments, saving £NZ10 million gross, or £5.6 million net in the 1966-7 year. This benefit was forecast to increase annually. The huge benefit stemmed from the large jets’ great cargo capacity, which was still hardly being filled to capacity. This capacity would allow greater exports to Singapore but also new trade prospects, as goods could get to market so much quicker and cheaper. As early as 1963, with anticipation of new air services, McIntosh had received interested inquiries about such a service. One of the more interesting ones came from a poultry farmer in the Hawkes Bay. Having done the math, the farmer believed air services would allow him to send to the Singapore market live ‘day-old’ chicks at a price competitive with local chicks. Whilst the farmers’ example was unusual, it illustrated the new export possibilities in a market where New Zealand had always struggled due to transport costs and timing.

The footnotes got lost with the cut and past and you may not be able to follow the abbreviations and names. I can elaborate if anyone wants (although my supervisor will be raging at me wasting valuable study time on this one question ;D)

Thanks for the replies. Dave, that's an excellent idea about the NZ Wings and Whites Aviation magazines. I should be able to get the first lot here in Wellington. I will ask Motat again about the second.

Thanks also for the Air New Zealand suggestion. I tried, although I must admit only half-heartedly, to get hold of them. I made no headway at all electronically (e-mail and web search) and didn't have any luck getting past standard bookings and corporate lines on the phone. Does anyone have a contact for their historical branch?

[corsair67]

Pete, I have sent you a PM to you with a possible contact person at Air New Zealand.

[petecarter]

Thanks to Craig, I got in contact with Air New Zealand about their archives. They are in the process of transferring their photographs to digital form, so couldn't help out. However, the digital copies will be handy for everyone when they're done.

I'll post any advances I make on the boards! Thanks for all the help.

[avenger]

Hi Dave, the Hoffman on board for the official inaugural SYD - SIN was Bill Hoffman.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Avenger.