Rose Bay became Sydney’s first international airport in the 1930s, connecting Australia with overseas destinations through an air service built around mail, a corporate joint venture and passengers wealthy enough to afford the fare. For everyone else, a fast trip across the world remained out of reach. A return ticket from Sydney to Southampton cost about £342.
A costly route across the empire
By the end of 1934, the first regular air mail service between Australia and England had begun. Qantas Empire Airways formed that year as an international airline joint venture between Australia’s Qantas and Britain’s Imperial Airways. The corporate arrangement connected two national carriers, while the service carried mail and paying passengers along a route through several countries.
In 1938, Qantas Empire Airways moved its operations from Brisbane to Rose Bay. The airline picked the eastern Sydney location for its calm waters and central position. Flying boats carried more freight than land-based aircraft of the time and cost less to operate, so the water airport suited companies moving mail and cargo.
The route travelled up Australia’s east coast to Singapore, then stopped at Bangkok, Calcutta, Karachi, Alexandria, Basra and Marseilles before reaching Southampton. The flight took approximately nine and a half days; by sea, the journey took five weeks. Speed came at a price. David Crotty, former curator of the Qantas Heritage Collection, who still does consulting work with Qantas, said a return fare from Sydney to Southampton cost about £342. “In those days it was a heck of a lot of money, considering you could buy a new Chevrolet car at that time in Sydney for about £330,” he said.
Wealthy travellers also bought passenger tickets, and the airline offered a level of comfort few Australians had experienced. “It was quite luxurious, it was unlike anything Australia had seen before,” Crotty said. Flying boats typically carried up to 15 passengers in several cabins. One cabin allowed smoking. Passengers could walk around, recline their seats and eat warm meals from a small galley kitchen. Qantas hired stewards who had worked on ships. They didn’t cook onboard.
War takes over the route
Passenger travel ended as World War II intensified and the military took over the flying boats. Civil Aviation Historical Society president Phil Vabre said the aircraft moved military equipment in Darwin and flew services to Nouméa, which served as a United States base during the war. Later, they ferried personnel, cargo and mail up the east coast into New Guinea to support the war effort.
“One by one they either were crashed, a couple were shot down … the air force had also taken some Empire flying boats early on in the piece,” Vabre said. The aircraft that had carried mail and wealthy passengers now supported military logistics. Some were lost; the air force took others.
The water airport gives way
After World War II, commercial land airports and aircraft became more widely used. Vabre said flying boats proved commercially difficult because operating from water posed challenges. During the war, large airports had been built around the world, and land aircraft had developed significantly.
In 1940, a Tasman Empire Airways Limited flying boat made the first scheduled commercial passenger flight directly between Auckland and Sydney, landing at Rose Bay. In later years, Rose Bay flying boats carried passengers to and from Lord Howe Island until its land airport opened in 1974. Rose Bay Water Airport closed that year.
Sydney Seaplanes still operates from a base at Rose Bay, where a commemorative plaque marks the airport’s history. Sydney Airport in Mascot became the city’s primary aerodrome; Queen Elizabeth II officially opened its international terminal in 1970. Western Sydney International Airport, in Badgerys Creek almost 60 kilometres from Mascot, is scheduled to begin commercial passenger flights from October 25.
“Rose Bay was important; it was the headquarters of our connection to Britain and the rest of the world by air,” Vabre said. Its history shows who controlled the route, who could afford a seat and how quickly commercial transport could be folded into military service.