These three plaques were transferred about 1966 from the former New Plymouth Airport, Highway 3, Bell Block, to the lawn at the eastern end of the former New Plymouth Airport Terminal. When the new New Plymouth airport was opened in March 2020 the plaques were moved again, to the eastern end of the terminal near the public seat in the VIP car park area. The first plaque marks the opening of the first New Plymouth Airport at Bell Block in 1936. The second marks the first Trans-Tasman flight in 1933 with fare paying passengers, piloted by the renown aviator Charles Kingsford Smith. The third plaque is a memorial to Kingsford Smith and fellow Australian aviator Charles Ulm (who captained the first official trans-Tasman airmail delivery flight from Sydney to New Plymouth in 1934) who both died in aircraft crashes; Ulm in 1934 when his plane disappeared near Hawaii and Kingsford Smith when his plane crashed in 1935 off the coast of Burma.
Documents
Plaque problem, Taranaki Daily News 10 September 1965
Southern Cross proved defining moment, Taranaki Daily News 3 August 2013
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