Excerpted from "The Coral Route", by the Auckland Museum. https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections/topics/the-coral-route:

In the wake of the Second World War, New Zealand found itself with an impressive fleet of pilots, who had learned to wrangle tide charts and coral reefs alike as they came in to land in the lagoons of the South Pacific. And so, in the final days of the British Empire, the Royal New Zealand Air Force ferried mail from one island outpost to the next, everywhere from Tahiti to Fiji.

In 1951, Tasman Empire Airways Ltd (TEAL) launched a romantic tourist package known as the Coral Route; a return journey from Auckland to Papeete in Tahiti using Short Solent flying boats, with stopovers in Suva in Fiji and Aitutaki in the Cook Islands. Apia, in Sāmoa, was introduced as a stopover in 1952.

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.

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 journey on the flying boats to each idyllic island was relaxing, despite a travel time of more than 30 hours. The stop at Aitutaki Lagoon was for refuelling, but passengers could disembark for a swim or to stretch out under the palm trees on shore. At Papeete, every boatload of disembarking passengers was greeted with the dance 'Soirée de TEAL'.

The Coral Route created a unique flying experience for tourists, the kind of imaginative venture that was to become the airline's hallmark. This was the start of the airline's close relationship with the Pacific, building goodwill by providing regular links to the islands.

A young Queen Elizabeth II flew with TEAL in Fiji in 1953. The flying boat Aotearoa II whisked the young Queen and Prince Philip from Suva to Lautoka and back on a sightseeing trip. It was the first time the British royal family had chartered a flight on a commercial airliner. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Queen looked 'much refreshed' after the flight – and that her husband had pleased his Fijian hosts by digging in to the plentiful lunch. After visiting Fiji and Tonga the couple continued their first royal tour of the Commonwealth, travelling to New Zealand, where they flew with the national airline NAC.

TEAL's Coral Route service ended on 15 September 1960. It was virtually the last international flying boat route in the world.

References:

• Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/coral-route-teal-flying-boat
• Auckland Museum https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections/topics/the-coral-route