In 1939 it was planned to air ferry the RNZAF's thirty Wellington general reconnaissance aircraft from the UK to New Zealand via the Mediterranean, Middle East and India, Burma. Malaya and Singapore then onwards to Australia and finally across the Tasman Sea, to their new stations at Ohakea and Whenuapai. Although the first five of these aircraft were delivered to the RNZAF ferry crews already in the UK in June 1939, these crews had to be thoroughly trained in the new aircraft and the aircraft themselves had to be "shaken down" for the long journey ahead. In the event it was the next six aircraft (NZ306 to 311) which were to be the first away, as the original six (300 - 305) still had the unsatisfactory Vickers-designed nose and tail gun positions installed, which were to be replaced by the later FN turrets. Special temporary NZ civilian registrations (prefix ZM, as ZM-ZAB to ZAG) were allocated to these aircraft for the flight, for the pragmatic reason of easing their transit through the air space of many foreign nations en route. The first six aircraft were to depart in October 1939, with four further groups of six aircraft departing at regular intervals with final group to arrive in NZ in late 1940. However this all came to nought less than a week prior to the outbreak of war when the British govt accepted NZ's offer to give up all claims for these aircraft to allow them to be transferred to the RAF.
Of course large commercial flying boats had flown over similar routes many times prior to this, and British land planes had flown as far as India and Singapore, and South Africa, mostly Imperial Airways on scheduled services, etc, plus RAF flying boats to Australia in 1928. However no land planes had ever been air delivered to a country so far away, not even flying boats, and certainly no military aircraft anywhere in the world. It seems as though the RNZAF Wellingtons would have been the first to fly so far on delivery, although the Aussie Sunderlands in the UK would not have been far behind, with a somewhat shorter route. Later in the war, RAAF Catalinas were delivered across the Pacific to Australia, originally by Civilian crews in 1941, later by RAAF, ditto for RNZAF Cats to Fiji, also PV-1 Venturas from Hawaii as well as C-47s (RAAF and RNZAF). First RNZAF Sunderlands (four Mk. III transport conversions) were ferried from UK to New Zealand over period Sept to December 1944 via the Atlantic to the USA, then across the States and down across the Pacific via Hawaii and Fiji.
David D