Air New Zealand today commemorates the 30th anniversary of the arrival of the first jet aircraft into the Cook Islands - a DC-8 - which commenced weekly services between Auckland and Rarotonga on 2 December 1973.
The development of DC-8 services, the first jet in the Air New Zealand fleet, was made possible by the construction of a suitable airport at Rarotonga.
"This created a further surge in passenger traffic to the Pacific and extended tourism in the Cook Islands, until then limited to indirect flying boat services via Suva in the 1950s and Air New Zealand flights operated by a chartered Hawker-Siddeley 748 (turbo prop) aircraft," explained Group General Manager Marketing Network & Sales, Norm Thompson.
"The jet service opened up the Cook Islands by providing residents with a regular and efficient link to the outside world, as well as providing inbound tourists with an experience no other international airline could match.
"Today, that point of differentiation still exists. In particular, our Pacific Island-to-Los Angeles routes are a key point of difference we offer to the inbound European and North American tourist market that are extremely popular with our customers who want to take advantage of a Pacific Island stopover on their way to New Zealand or Australia," said Mr Thompson.
Air New Zealand currently operates seven services weekly to Rarotonga from Auckland and three services weekly from Los Angeles via Papeete.
Air New Zealand's Express model adopted for its domestic and trans-Tasman routes is proposed for the Pacific region in early 2004. The aim on these routes is to provide lower fares and to strive for increased frequency where possible.
The introduction of Pacific Express services is likely to mean that yet another jet aircraft type - the Airbus A320 - will be seen in Rarotonga in the near future.
Since 1973 several different jet aircraft types have regularly carried passengers and cargo to and from the Cook Islands. Key dates for the development of Cook Islands tourism were as follows:
- 2 December 1973: First DC-8 service from Auckland-Rarotonga
- 4 December 1973: Inaugural DC-8 Coral Route service from Auckland-Papeete service via Nadi, Pago Pago, and Rarotonga
- 30 January 1974: H.R.H Queen Elizabeth II officially opened Rarotonga International Airport
- 28 May 1977: Official opening of The Rarotongan tourist hotel, jointly owned by the Tourist Hotel Corporation, the Cook Islands Government and Air New Zealand
- 17 September 1978: First DC-10 service from Auckland-Rarotonga-Honolulu-Los Angeles
- 21 August 1984: First B737 service from Auckland-Nadi-Rarotonga-Papeete
- 1 April 1986: First B767 service from Auckland-Nadi-Rarotonga-Papeete (replacing the B737 service)
- 3 April 1986 First direct B767 service Auckland-Rarotonga.
The inaugural passenger service to the region was operated by Air New Zealand's forerunner airline, Tasman Empire Airways (TEAL), on Aparima, the company's only Mk III Solent flying boat.
The flying boat service commenced 15 December 1951 on what became famous as the "Coral Route" - from Auckland via Fiji, and the Cook Islands to Tahiti with Samoa becoming part of the route in 1952. The TEAL flying boat services continued until 15 September 1960, when they were withdrawn to give way to land planes.
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