page_title: History of Air New Zealand
section_title: 1980s
hierarchical_section_title: History of Air New Zealand / 1980s
caption_attribution_description: Air New Zealand Boeing 777-200ER (ZK-OKB) lands at London Heathrow Airport. Photographed by Adrian Pingstone in July 2007 and placed in the public domain.
context_page_description: The history of Air New Zealand, the national carrier of New Zealand, began when the amalgamated East Coast Airways and Cook Strait Airways began operations in January 1936 as Union Airways of New Zealand, the country's first major airline. Union Airways was the sole New Zealand aviation partner in Tasman Empire Airways Limited, which made its inaugural flight in 1940. The New Zealand Government bought full ownership of TEAL in 1961 and the airline was renamed Air New Zealand in 1965. New Zealand's domestic airline, National Airways Corporation, was merged with Air New Zealand in 1978. Air New Zealand was privatised in 1989 but in 2001 the New Zealand Government took up 80% ownership in return for injecting $885 million after the airline ran into financial difficulty. In November 2013, the National Government sold down its share in Air New Zealand from 73% to 53% as part of its controversial asset sales programme.
context_section_description: In 1981 Air New Zealand ordered its first wide-bodied Boeing type; the Boeing 747-219 was delivered, starting the replacement of the DC-10s. The DC-10s were leased out, the last service being in 1983, and all were sold by the end of 1986.
  In 1982 the first Air New Zealand flight to London in its own right (via Papeete and Los Angeles) took place. Air New Zealand was now a global airline. By 1988, the airline was operating weekly roundtrip Boeing 747 service between Auckland and London via Dallas/Fort Worth.
  In 1985 the first Boeing 767-200s were delivered. This type filled the medium range and payload gap vacated by the DC-8 and DC-10s. This allowed the airline to service the trans-Tasman route with a more intensive frequency to the major capitals not allowed by the larger Boeing 747s. Flights to Perth also used the aircraft. The Boeing 767 was also used for main trunk domestic services.
  Air New Zealand, along with Qantas helped to pioneer Extended range, Twin engine, Operations ETOPS. This allowed use of the efficient Boeing 767 over long range water routes. Originally the 767s were to stay within two hours flying time of an acceptable airport but this extended to three and even four hours. (The ETOPS rating is applied to individual aircraft, not the type in general. Today all twin engine commercial types can be rated to ETOPS standard, usually as part of a 'new aircraft' program such as the Embraer E-190.)
caption: Air New Zealand Boeing 777-200ER lands at London Heathrow
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