How it started
NZ Aero Transport
NZ Aero Transport Co. was established in 1920 at Timaru by Rodolph Wigley, who in 1906 had driven the first motor car to The Hermitage. Wigley leased five surplus Royal Air Force aircraft from the NZ Government for sightseeing. It was the first company of its kind in the country. The first aeroplane to land in Fairlie was war surplus Avro 504K biplane E4242 in May 1920, still carrying RAF roundels. Passenger and freight routes served areas between Wellington and Invercargill. In October 1920 with Captain JC Mercer, Wigley flew on the first one-day flight from Invercargill to Auckland. After a series of mishaps, such as damage during forced landings in paddocks, the company went into liquidation in 1923.
Queenstown – Mount Cook Airways
In 1935, Wigley formed Queenstown - Mount Cook Airway in conjunction with his son Henry, who remained the managing director of the airline until 1979 and chairman until his death in 1980. The company operated charter flights around the Otago Lakes, Milford Sound and Mount Cook regions, until it was suspended by World War II.
Postwar history
Flying resumed in 1952 using an Auster J1-A Autocrat, registration ZK-BDX (since preserved, formerly inside the terminal of Queenstown Airport now at the Mount Cook Hermitage Hotel Edmund Hillary Centre).
From Wikipedia’s article on Mount Cook Airline, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2