Trans Australia Airlines Map of the Commonwealth – Featuring Air Routes, Explorers’ Tracks & Industry of a Nation in Flight

Published: 1948
Available in Two Sizes:

• Standard: 1000 mm (w) x 750 mm (h)

• Supermap: 1900 mm (w) x 1450 mm (h)

Step back into the golden age of Australian aviation with this beautifully reproduced 1948 Trans Australia Airlines Map of the Commonwealth of Australia. Originally printed just two years after TAA's founding in 1946, this map is both a historical document and a decorative masterpiece, celebrating the dawn of commercial air travel across the vast Australian continent.

More than just a map, it captures a post-war nation on the move—with flight paths spanning out across the country, industries springing up from coast to outback, and a new era of exploration marked by propeller-driven aircraft and pioneering spirit.

✈️ A Nation in Flight: What the Map Shows

This vintage map presents a vivid snapshot of Australia's transportation and economic geography as it stood in 1948, including:

• ✈️ Air routes of Trans Australia Airlines and other early carriers, with flight distances shown in a dedicated table

• 🛩️ Aircraft illustrations and descriptions of planes then in service—such as the DC-3 “Skyliner,” DC-4 “Skymaster,” Convair-Liner, and the DHA-3 “Drover”

• 🧭 Routes of early Australian explorers, tracing their perilous inland journeys

• 🏭 Industrial zones, including mining, agriculture, and pastoral activities across the states

• 🚂 Major railway lines, threading the interior before jet age travel changed the landscape forever

The map is a blend of cartography and storytelling, offering a nostalgic look at an era when air travel was both glamorous and pioneering.

About Trans Australia Airlines (TAA)

Established in 1946 as a government-owned carrier, TAA was a foundational force in Australia's domestic aviation industry. Operating until 1992 when it merged with Qantas, TAA brought air travel to remote towns and regional centres, reducing a week’s travel to a day’s flight and helping knit together a vast, isolated nation.

This 1948 map commemorates TAA’s early ambition: to connect Australians through the sky while supporting the industrial and economic development of the post-war nation.

🖨️ Finishing Options: Choose Your Style

Optional Hang Rails (Laminated & Canvas)

Laminated & Canvas versions can be fitted with natural timber hang rails, top and bottom, for effortless, elegant display:

• Ready-to-hang with a cord on the top rail

• Rails are lacquered in a warm wood tone

• No framing required – just add a hook to the wall

📦 Please allow up to 10 working days for delivery of hang-railed versions as they are individually prepared by our framer.

🧭 Product Summary

🧳 Perfect For:

• ✈️ Aviation historians and enthusiasts

• 🖼️ Collectors of vintage transport and travel art

• 🏢 Office and home decor with a nostalgic or industrial edge

• 📚 Educational displays in libraries, schools, or museums

• 🎁 A memorable gift for pilots, travellers, or lovers of cartographic history

The 1948 TAA Map of Australia is a tribute to a transformative time in Australia’s history—when explorers still traced the inland with grit and compass, but the sky was becoming the new frontier. It's a beautiful way to honour that story—and to bring the vintage elegance of early air travel into your space.

Fly back in time. Map a nation in flight.