Air New Zealand's 75th anniversary of international flight is being marked by an exhibition, opening at Te Papa in Wellington tomorrow, which celebrates "hero moments" but also notes challenges and commemorates tragedies.
The airline says the large-scale exhibition covers more than a century of flight in this country, with engine parts from a Richard Pearse plane through to a virtual reality experience of flight in the future.
The free exhibition, which runs for six months, is a collaboration between the museum and the airline.
Air New Zealand's head of global brand, Jodi Williams, said the aim was for visitors to feel proud of their national carrier and to learn more.
"The starting point was celebrating 75 years; it's tough in the aviation industry and we've gone through some challenging times. We want to acknowledge all New Zealanders who have stuck by us."
She said staff visited flight and special interest museums around the world before deciding on how to display and present hundreds of items, interactive displays and mock-ups of cabins.
Air New Zealand's forerunner, Tasman Empire Airways, started flying to Sydney in April 1940.
History curator Lynette Townsend said the items on display came from the airline's archive, Te Papa's collection, private donations by former staff and Auckland's Museum of Transport and Technology. "It was my job to weave a story around the objects we found," she said.
Visitors enter the main area through a display of uniforms across the years from the first international flying boat flight in 1940.
"There's a really strong connection between airline history and the world of fashion right from the very beginning," said Ms Townsend.
There's a full cabin mock-up of a Solent flying boat, and hundreds of items from retro cabin bags and branded ash trays to Hobbit props from the latest marketing.
By Grant Bradley of the New Zealand Herald
