Description
1939 Tonga – New Zealand first Air Mail cover.
Cover cancelled Nukualofa 23OC39 4AM Tonga and backstamped Auckland 23OC39 4PM.
Captain J W Burgess carried out surveys for the South Pacific sections of the British trans-Pacific route, visiting Noumea, Suva, Tonga, and Western Samoa. The aircraft was AOTEAROA a Short Brothers S30 Flying Boat (Registration ZK-AMA) which had arrived at Auckland on its delivery flight from Southampton on 28 August 1939.
The Postmaster General’s Department in Wellington verified in May 1940 that the mail was Official but stated it was only of a very limited quantity.
