Whereas the First World War had stimulated the initial development of flying machines, the Second World War brought them with giant strides to a dominant position not only as weapons but also as a normal form of transport. This complete change of situation has been recognised in New Zealand by, among other things, a comprehensive system of controlling legislation, the development of the New Zealand National Airways Corporation, and, in 1961, by the New Zealand Government in taking over the complete ownership of Tasman Empire Airways Ltd.

By 1961 New Zealand possessed a nation-wide network of domestic services employing two types of turbo-prop aircraft as well as piston-engined aircraft, numerous private operators, a specialist domestic air-freight company, and its own network of services to Australia, Fiji, the Samoas, and Tahiti, as well as those to the rest of the world by Australian, American, Canadian, and French airlines.