National Airways Corporation – Friendship is Here!

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Lines such as "Charming N.A.C hostesses cater for your every need" and a swinging jingle take us straight to the heart of 1960s New Zealand. This commercial was produced in 1963 to mark the launch of the National Airways Corporation's – or N.A.C's – air service to Hawke's Bay in the Fokker F27 Friendship aircraft.

The turbo-prop Friendships served many regional New Zealand destinations until they were retired in the 1980s.

Flying was still something of a novelty for most New Zealanders, and this commercial encourages a wide range of potential passengers to use the new service with voice actors playing a businessman and a mother amongst others, all advocating "...flying's the way to travel... with N.A.C."

Learn more about the history of tourism in New Zealand.

Image: National Airways Corporation hostesses model new uniforms. Dominion post (Newspaper): Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post and Dominion newspapers. Ref: EP/1966/2761-F. Alexander Turnbull Library http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23085096