Transport in New Zealand final sailing of the Rangatira, which was custom built and entered service in 1972, was on 15 September 1976, after two money-losing years (subsidised by the government). New Zealand's air travel sector is served by 15 airlines. The largest airline is Air New Zealand, a state-owned flag carrier. There are 123 airports (and aerodromes) in New Zealand. Six airports provide international air services (besides domestic services); Auckland and Christchurch (the largest airports in the North and South Islands, respectively) providing long-haul and short-haul international air services; and Wellington, Hamilton, Dunedin and Queenstown providing short-haul international air services to Australia and
NZ Bus NZ Bus NZ Bus, formerly Stagecoach New Zealand, is New Zealand's largest bus company, operating in Auckland and Wellington, with a fleet of around 1,100 vehicles. It owned 96% of Fullers Ferries in Auckland but has sold this shareholding. It is a subsidiary of Infratil. In 1992 Stagecoach purchased Wellington City Transport (WCT), the largest bus-operator in Wellington, from Wellington City Council. WCT had recently purchased the Auckland, Hutt Valley and north Wellington suburban bus operations of New Zealand Railways Road Services, then branded "CityLine". Stagecoach expanded its Auckland operations in 1998 by purchasing Transportation Auckland Corporation (trading as The