$30.00 CAD
| /
Envelope used for mail sent on Pan American's Flying Boat Air Route to New Zealand. Stopping points Noumea New Caledonia and Canton Island (between Fiji and Hawaii Islands). Postmarked less than 2 months before Pearl Harbor attack.
‘Resumed flight N.Z.-U.S.A. Via Noumea, N.C. Canton Is, Hawaii’
Nice image LL of plane over city and plane landing at island. Inside box labeled 'AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND - NOUMEA N.C. - CANTON ISLAND - HONOLULU T.H - CALIFORNIA U.S.A.' metallic plastic with image of seaplane in water at island.
Postmarked ‘CHICAGO. ILL. OCT 16 1941 AIR MAIL’ and ‘HANNIBAL MO. OCT 17 1941 (RECEIVED)’. Also stamped ‘SPECIAL DELIVERY’ and ‘Fee Claimed by Office of First Address’
In June 1940 PanAm extended its service from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Honolulu. A month later, the first regular air mail flight to New Zealand occurred along the route San Francisco---Los Angeles--Honolulu--Canton Island--Noumea (New Caledonia)--Auckland. In late 1941, just before the outbreak of the Pacific War, PanAm swapped Suva (Fiji) for Noumea and began a passenger service.
