Rose Bay became Sydney’s first international airport in the 1930s. Flying boats linked Australia to overseas destinations by air mail, while wealthy travellers paid for passenger flights. By the end of 1934, the first regular air mail service between Australia and England had begun, and Qantas Empire Airways had formed as a joint venture between Australia’s Qantas and Britain’s Imperial Airways.
Mail, Markets and the Price of a Seat
Flying boats carried more freight than land-based aircraft of the time and cost less to operate. Rose Bay mainly handled mail. A passenger seat, though, cost far more than most people could afford: David Crotty, former curator of the Qantas Heritage Collection, said a return fare from Sydney to Southampton cost about £342.
“That was a heck of a lot of money, considering you could buy a new Chevrolet car at that time in Sydney for about £330,” Crotty said. The flight took approximately nine and a half days, while a sea journey took five weeks. The route went up Australia’s east coast to Singapore, then stopped at Bangkok, Calcutta, Karachi, Alexandria, Basra and Marseilles before reaching Southampton.
Crotty said the service offered a level of comfort Australia hadn’t seen before. “The flying boats typically took somewhere up to 15 passengers, and there were a series of cabins. In one cabin you could smoke … there was room to wander around and the seats could be reclined back.” Australia’s first in-flight service had arrived.
Qantas hired stewards who had worked on ships. They didn’t cook onboard, but a small galley kitchen let them serve warm meals, Crotty said. Passengers who could afford the fare travelled in cabins with room to move; mail remained Rose Bay’s main business.
War Redirects the Aircraft
In 1938, Qantas Empire Airways moved its operations from Brisbane to Rose Bay, drawn by the eastern Sydney location’s calm waters and central position. In 1940, a Tasman Empire Airways Limited flying boat landed at Rose Bay on the first scheduled commercial passenger flight directly between Auckland and Sydney.
As World War II intensified, passenger flights from Rose Bay ended and the military put the flying boats to work. Civil Aviation Historical Society president Phil Vabre said the aircraft moved military equipment in Darwin and flew services to Nouméa, a United States base during the war.
“Later on they were largely employed up and down the east coast ferrying personnel, cargo and mail up into New Guinea in support of the war,” Vabre said. “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.” The military redirected aircraft and routes from mail and paying passengers to transport duties, while some planes were lost or taken by the air force.
Land Airports Replace the Water Route
After the war, commercial land airports and aircraft came into wider use. Vabre said flying boats were difficult to operate commercially because working from water posed challenges. During the war, large airports had been built around the world, and land aircraft had developed significantly.
In later years, flying boats from Rose Bay carried passengers to and from Lord Howe Island. The island opened its land airport in 1974, and Rose Bay Water Airport closed that year. Sydney Seaplanes still operates from a Rose Bay base, where a commemorative plaque marks the airport’s history.
Mascot’s Sydney Airport 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.
Vabre described Rose Bay as “the headquarters of our connection to Britain and the rest of the world by air.” He also linked it to “the romance of the flying boats” and their design as aircraft that were “half boat, half airplane.”