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Johnston’s Coachlines, a Kinetic-owned business and leader in New Zealand coach travel, is celebrating 100 years on the road this month.
Founded in 1926 by E.C. “Johnny” Johnston and V.J. Brinsden, the business has grown from a fledgling Auckland taxi company to a New Zealand-wide transport operation with 160 employees and 100 coaches, moving 20,000 passengers each year.
Johnston’s National Operations manager Steve Gilchrist says the milestone is a chance to reflect on the company’s journey – a story that runs right alongside the evolution of transport, tourism and travel in New Zealand over the last century.
“The original Johnston’s team took a chance and took to the road when trams were still a familiar sight in Auckland, and cars and commercial aviation were only just beginning to redefine how people travelled.
“Looking back at how different transport was when Johnston’s began really puts our 100-year milestone into perspective.”
From its early days, Johnston’s evolved with New Zealand’s changing transport needs and was quick to move beyond taxis, expanding into touring cars, limousines and sightseeing.
Within just three years, it was transporting passengers to Auckland’s aerodrome at Māngere as aviation began to take off.
As New Zealand became increasingly connected and its tourism industry grew, the company continued finding new ways to move people, growing its services to include airport passengers, sightseeing and cruise visitors, and expanding beyond Auckland into Christchurch and Queenstown. Acquisitions including Mount Cook Coachlines and Scenic Coachlines later strengthened its national reach.
“Through all that change, Johnston’s has remained first and foremost a people business,” says Steve
“Looking after our passengers and getting them safely where they need to go has always been at the heart of what we do, and it takes a great team of people to do it well.”
Now part of Kinetic, Johnston’s is still transporting visitors, community groups and business teams around the country across tourism, corporate travel, airport services, charters and major events.
The business also continues to invest in its fleet and services, including the introduction of new modern Neoplan coaches as part of its ongoing fleet modernisation.
“While this 100-year milestone is an important opportunity to pause and appreciate where Johnston’s has come from, our history shows we’ve always been focused on what comes next.
“The way New Zealanders travel will keep changing, just like it always has, and so will Johnston’s.”
20 years behind the Johnston’s wheel
While Johnston’s business history can be measured in vehicles, destinations and kilometres travelled, it has been the generations of people behind the wheel and the scenes that have kept it moving.
Few understand that better than Logan Balderston, Johnston’s longest-serving current driver, who has spent 20 years with the company.
For him, celebrating a century in business is something worth stopping for.
“You’re not going to work for many places that have their 100th birthday,” Logan Balderston says. “It’s amazing.”
During his time in the industry, Logan says he’s watched roads improve, vehicles become safer and more efficient, technology become part of everyday operations, and coach tourism shift towards smaller and more personalised experiences.
For Logan, one thing hasn’t changed: drivers are still the human face of Johnston’s.
“I hope they remember the driver did a good job for them,” he says. “That reflects on the company, obviously. You’re the human face.”
