TEAL Short Solent flying boat on The Coral Route: Auckland, Fiji, Samoa, Aitutaki, Tahiti 1950s 

TEAL’s famous Pacific island-hopping adventure.
The Link. Air New Zealand Ltd Archive
Tiare Tahiti and the Coral Route.
www.aucklandmus...
The Coral Route
The inaugural flight, from Auckland to Papeete via Suva and Aitutaki, left on 27 December 1951.
It started as a monthly service but proved so popular, the airline began to fly once a fortnight.
The name 'Coral Route' came from a TEAL staff competition.
Head steward Eric Mullane's winning entry was inspired by the beauty of coral islands and of the song-filled (choral) welcome that was given to visitors to the islands.
Short S.45 Solent IV of which TEAL acquired four.
They were delivered during 1949 with one setting a new trans-Tasman crossing record of 5 hours 37 minutes.
The Solents continued flying until 1954 with the introduction of the Douglas DC-6 landplanes.
However, Solent ZK-AMO Aranui continued on the Coral Route until 1960