DEUTSCHE-RUSSISCHE LUFTVERKEHRS-GESELLSCHAFT, GmbH. (DERULUFT): Germany/U. S.S. R. (1921-1941). The holding company Deutscher Aero-Union A. G. is formed in Berlin on April 4, 1921 . A month later, on May 6, a trade agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union is signed, which, among other points, calls for the creation of a joint air transport concern. In August, German and Russian representatives begin discussions on establishing an airline as a way to increase the speed of communications between Berlin and Moscow from the 65 hours required by rail and to substitute airmail for the expensive telegraph service currently operated between the two capitals.
In Berlin, Deutscher Aero-Union, A. G. and the Soviet government, through the local representative of the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Trade, jointly form Deutsche-Russische Luftverkehrs-Gesellschaft, GmbH. or Deruluft on November 24. The Soviets invest 250,000 gold rubles (and promise to transfer diplomatic courier traffic to the company in lieu of regular subsidy) and the German half is contributed by Deutscher Aero-Union, A. G. Deutsche Luft-Reederei, GmbH. is appointed the German airline partner and A. S. Davydov is named managing director.
Orders are placed for 10 five-passenger Fokker F-IIIs, the standard type in service with the German carrier. Initially, plans are made to accomplish all routine maintenance and overhaul, as well as repair, work at Konigs-berg. Only emergency repairs will be accomplished at Moscow.
Piloted by Erich Just, the first Fokker arrives at Moscow on the evening of April 30, 1922. To help celebrate the important May 1 U. S.S. R. holiday, Just makes several demonstration flights throughout the day. A second F-III, flown by Joachim Stollbrock, arrives in the evening. Pilot Just launches Deruluft’s express and mail service over a Konigsburg-Kovno (Kaunas)-Smolensk-Moscow route on May 2.
One of the first airlines in the world to offer sustained scheduled services, this Deruluft route includes the world’s longest nonstop section, the 820 km. from Smolensk to Konigsberg’s Devau Airport in East Prussia.
Passenger flights start on August 27, with scheduled services, both mail and human, ending because of adverse winter conditions on November 1.
During the six-month flying season, 300 scheduled flights have transported 286 passengers, 1,000 kg. of mail, and 18,000 kg. of cargo. Additionally, another 230 passengers are carried on 90 nonscheduled flights.
The first German-built aircraft, an LVG C VI, is acquired in December while the last flight of the year occurs on Christmas Eve when a pilot named Polte reaches Moscow in heavy snow and fog with presents and messages for the carrier’s German employees stationed in the Russian capital.
Upon its creation on February 6, 1923, Deutscher Aero Lloyd, A. G. succeeds Deutsche Luft-Reederei, GmbH. as German airline partner. The route from Konigsberg to Moscow now goes by way of Pillkallen, Kovno, Novo-Aleksandrovsk, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, and Vyaz’ma. Frequencies over the route are increased to three times per week; however, due to airport conditions a scheduled stop at Kovno is often avoided, requiring aircraft to haul more fuel (and less cargo). A repair station is opened at Smolensk in May.
A second LVG C VI is acquired in June, the same month in which Fokker sends his only F-V to the company for evaluation. Deruluft officials are not impressed and, although the ship had flown all the way to Moscow without incident, it is returned to Amsterdam in early August.
During the year, weather information-gathering posts are established for the Moscow to Smolensk, Konigsberg, and Kovno segments. The flying season again ends at the end of October.
Scheduled passenger bookings increase to 348 on the year, with mail reaching 1,589 kg. and cargo 20,626 kg.
June 1924 accords company statisticians a host of records: 500,000 km. of scheduled service without a major accident, a million km. logged by company pilots, and several business and diplomatic passengers with 50 flights under their belts.
Four-times-per-week roundtrips commence on July 1. The line’s first accident occurs when bad weather forces an F-III to make a forced landing at Gzhatsk, near Smolensk, on September 9; no injuries are reported. Unhappily, a month later, on October 8, Capt. Otto Steger and mechanic Popenhagen crash the RR-1 in thick fog near Vyaz’ma. Steger is killed, becoming the line’s first fatality, but the Fokker is later repaired at Moscow’s new maintenance and repair center.
Having failed to pass its airworthiness tests, the second LVG C VI is withdrawn at month’s end. The year’s most unusual cargo is a Russian bear, dispatched to the Berlin Zoo just prior to the season’s last flight on October 31.
Enplanements for the year advance slightly to 399, while mail doubles to 2,382 kg. and cargo climbs to 26,817 kg.
A chain of 16 meteorological observation posts is completed between Konigsberg and Moscow on May 1, 1925.
A through service between Moscow and Berlin is completed on June 25 when the German Deutscher Aero Lloyd, A. G. starts scheduled services from the linkup point at Konigsberg to the German capital. This one move increases the route network by half. At the same time, frequencies are increased to six per week.
During the month, the company has examined and chosen not to accept a Fokker F-VII.
Having completed its Moscow repairs, the RR-1 returns to service in July. Meanwhile, Karl Grulich, Deutscher Aero Lloyd, A. G.’s chief designer, modifies two F-IIIs into Grulich V-1s.
The first million kilometers of service are completed on August 7; one Russian and two German pilots also join this distinctive kilometer club.
Although four Fokkers are involved in accidents prior to the end of flights on October 31, there are no fatalities and all are repaired.
Passenger boardings increase to 1,064 while mail more than doubles to 5,410 kg; 38,543 kg of freight and baggage is transported.
Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH) is formed on January 6, 1926 and takes over the German portion of the Deruluft arrangement from
Deutscher Aero-Union, A. G.
During the spring, night-flying aids are installed between Berlin and Konigsberg and preliminary trials are held prior to the launch of the year’s regular flying season.
On behalf of the Ukrainian carrier Ukrvozdukhput, a contract route is flown between Moscow and Kharkov in July-September employing two leased F-IIIs.
With the original 1921 agreement approaching lapse, DLH Director Erich Milch and several associates travel to Moscow aboard a DLH Al-batros L-73 late in the year. A prolongation is successfully negotiated with Managing Director Davydov and his colleagues The exclusive company concession to operate scheduled air services between Germany and the Soviet Union is again ratified by the Berlin and Moscow governments. At this point, it is decided that the five Fokkers owned by the Germans will be reregistered with German “D” marks and numbers; the remainder, owned by the Soviet government, continue to possess “RR” identity.
A Grulich V-1 must be written off following a nonfatal crash that occurs during a December charter flight.
The year’s bookings are level at 1,098; however, the amount of mail doubles to 10,733 kg. Freight traffic, on the other hand, plunges to 17,991 kg.
In need of new flight equipment after several years of hard service by the original 10 Fokkers (some of which are now unserviceable), Deru-luft, early in 1927, arranges with Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH) for the transfer of seven six-passenger Dornier Merkurs. Company pilots report to Konigsberg in April for training on the new aircraft.
The year’s flying season begins in dramatic fashion on May 2 when Soviet pilot I. F. Voedillo, a member of the company’s million-kilometer club, departs Moscow for Berlin in the F-III RR-7. Simultaneously, the Merkur D-1081 lifts off from Berlin for Moscow.
The Ukrvozdukhput contract is also resumed in May with the two F-IIIs leased the previous year. One of these is sold to the Ukrainians, but crashes before month’s end. A new Merkur is badly damaged in a landing accident.
Another Merkur, piloted by V. Melnikov for the second time, is badly damaged in a June 4 accident at Konigsberg. Unable to stop after landing, the plane rolls into a hangar and crashes into three other company aircraft. The RR-7, which had opened the year’s service, crashes in June; no injuries are reported, but the craft must be written off.
Heavy rains wash out the airport at Smolensk and, beginning on July 18, a Merkur inaugurates a revised Berlin-Konigsberg-Riga-Velikie Luki-Moscow route.
By August, two more Merkurs are involved in accidents, all of which have so far been caused by pilot error due to the Dornier’s high landing speed.
In a cooperative effort between DLH, Dobroijat, and Deruluft, a Junkers W.33, the Ural, makes a 10-stage roundtrip flight Berlin-Irkutsk-Berlin between August 27 and September 2.
When flights cease for the year on October 31, ledgers reveal that passenger boardings have grown to 1,727. Both cargo (38,506 kg.) and mail (25,574 kg.) more than double in volume, with Deruluft now transporting more airmail than any other European carrier.
Beginning in March 1928 and continuing through July, all of the original Dornier Merkurs are returned to Germany for modifications.
In late spring, two Junkers F-13s are leased from Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH) for a year.
An F-III is lost in a May 16 crash while a Dornier Merkur is destroyed in a June 4 landing accident. One of the new Junkers monoplanes is employed on June 6 to open Berlin-Leningrad via Danzig, Konigsberg, Riga, and Reval service.
In October, three Fokker F-IIIs are transferred to the Voenno-Vozdushnaya-Sily, Russia’s air force. The Soviet Union’s First Five-Year Plan, announced during the year, calls for significant expansion of Deruluft operations.
The year’s enplanements reach 2,510; 27,992 kg. of mail and 49,291 kg. of cargo are also flown.
Beginning in April 1929, four more Junkers F-13s join the Deruluft fleet. During the same month and in May, six Dornier Mekurs are returned to Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH).
One of the new F-13s disappears on a Leningrad-Riga flight just before the end of the service season on October 31.
In the weeks after the devastating stock market crash in the U. S., company officials report that this year enplanements are down to 2,153 and mail kg. has fallen to 16,711. Freight, conversely, is up 10,000 kg. to 59,669 kg.
Airline employment stands at 11 pilots and 8 mechanics in 1930 and the fleet includes 7 Dornier Merkurs and 3 Junkers monoplanes.
To replace the F-13 lost the previous October, Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH) forwards a replacement Junkers, the Sokol, in April.
During the May 1-October 31 flying season, daily services are operated over the 2,640-km. route network; Sundays flights are offered for the first time.
The upward trend in bookings resumes, with enplanements totaling 2,396. Mail improves to 27,244 kg., but cargo falls to 49,933 kg.
In late winter 1931, an F-13 equipped with a combined wheel and ski undercarriage device is tested; the unit is unsuccessful.
During the May-October operational season, Velikie Luki comes to replace Smolensk as principal midway stop on the Kaunas to Moscow segment.
Operations continue apace and customer bookings pass the 3,000 mark (3,081) for the first time. Mail totals 29,060 kg. while freight increases to 70,146 kg.
A Dornier Merkur is sold to Aeroflot Soviet Airlines in January 1932 as plans are made to upgrade the joint-airline’s fleet with trimotors.
The Russo-German Deruluft arrangement is renewed for another five years on February 24. During the month, Aeroflot Soviet Airlines receives two more Merkurs.
Fleet enhancement begins in March when Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH) provides a pair of previously operated 10-passenger Rohrbach Ro-VIII Rolands, the Pelikan and the Storch. While Russia makes plans for its fleet contribution, the company’s four remaining German-registered Merkurs are modernized with new propellers and improved cabin heating.
Once known as the Blaufuchs, a Dornier Merkur is lost in a nonfatal July crash.
Three nine-passenger Tupolev ANT-9s are transferred over in September and enter service on the route from Konigsberg to Moscow via Kaunus and Velikiye Luki. All of the fleet’s aircraft are now equipped with radio.
The year’s enplanements rise to 3,610; mail is down to 24,243 kg., but cargo climbs to 78,183 kg.
A limited number of F-13 services are offered on an experimental basis during the winter of 1933, using aircraft equipped with wheels or skis. A third Rohrbach Ro-VIII Roland, the former Kranich, is acquired in February.
Following establishment of the Hitler government, Russian security concerns increase. Russian pilots are prohibited from flying the Konigsberg-Berlin segment, while German personnel in Moscow are closely monitored. Russian controllers are required on all flights into Soviet airspace to ensure border crossings at designated points and an absence of photography.
In time for this year’s operations, beginning in May, a new headquarters and maintenance center is completed at Moscow.
ANT-9 flights commence during the summer from Konigsburg to Leningrad via Tilsit, Riga, and Tallin.
There are no other changes in services this year, but customer bookings jump to 5,857. Mail traffic reaches 31,611 kg. and cargo increases to 121,779 kg.
Regularly scheduled winter services commence in early 1934. In a concentrated effort to increase traffic, company officials coordinate their schedules with those of Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH). Passengers coming in from Moscow or Leningrad are now able to make same-day connections to such European capitals as Vienna, Paris, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and London, as well as to larger German cities, including Hamburg and Munich.
One of the ANT-9s crashes on October 22 while the last Dornier Merkur is returned to DLH.
During the first 12 months of year-round connecting service, Deruluft traffic skyrockets to 12,130 passengers flown, along with 56,952 kg. of mail and 204,620 kg. of cargo.
The German equipment commitment to Deruluft is dramatically increased in early 1935. Beginning just after the new year, 5 17-passenger Junkers Ju-52/3ms are delivered over the next 5 months: Phoenix, Kon-dor, Milan, Kormoran, and Flamingo. The former is barely in service before it is lost in a crash on January 31.
The Rohrbach Roland Storch is destroyed in a March 7 accident; however, the ANT-9 lost the previous fall is replaced by a unit from Aeroflot Soviet Airlines, which is christened Korshun upon its arrival in August.
In May, a new airport is opened at Leningrad, leading to an acceleration in the retirement of Junkers F-13s begun in January.
Passenger boardings move ahead to 14,185 for the year and mail rises to 73,615 kg. Cargo is up to a significant 366,228 kg. as 99.5% of the carrier’s summer flights are completed without incident, the highest rate of regularity that the airline will accomplish.
The two surviving Rohrbach Rolands, the Pelikan and Kranich, are returned to Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH) in January 1936, followed by the F-13 Lerche in March. Another Junkers monoplane is lost in a crash on May 16, but a former Aeroflot Soviet Airlines ANT-9 is received in June and christened Golub. The ANT-9 Yastreb is destroyed in a November 6 accident.
Increased security concerns on the Russian side and a lack of traffic on the main Berlin-Moscow route, lead to a decision to end the 15-year-old Russo-German airline concession when it expires on December 31. Ironically, traffic on this last full year of joint service is at its peak.
Enplanements total 18,689 while 102,495 kg. of mail and 495,902 kg. of freight are flown.
Although the decision has been made to provide flights for one final quarter, all remaining aircraft are returned to their respective parents in January 1937. Along with a German Douglas DC-2, three Ju-52/3ms and the Soviet ANT-9s Korshun and Golub are chartered to keep up flights.
Deruluft flights end on March 31; however, Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH) now assumes responsibility for all route sectors outside of the U. S.S. R. New He-111 civil transports are placed on the Berlin to Konigsburg via Danzig service in late spring.
German and Soviet officials agree on August 23 (effective August 31) to officially dissolve the carrier. Formal liquidation is delayed and never occurs.
Following promulgation of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact in August 1939, DLH and Aeroflot Soviet Airlines open a new Berlin-Moscow route on January 21, 1940. It, together with all vestiges of the onetime transborder airline, is finally terminated on March 22, 1941.
DEUTSCHE VERKEHRSFLUG, A. G.: Germany (1926-1933). When Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH) is formed on January 6, 1926, a number of small Junkers Luftverkehr, A. G. affiliates in Bavaria are being flown by Luftverkehr Thuringen, GmbH. In February, these are taken over in a partnership of cities, the state, and certain manufacturers and are reformed on March 25 into the joint-stock company Nordbayerischen Verkshrsflug, A. G.
On July 25, the local system comes under control of the aircraft builder Messerschmitt Flugzeugwerke, which provides one of its few M.18s to renew services next day.
By 1930, a total of 17 small feeder routes are in operation; company Messerschmitt M.18s and M.20s transport some 13,000 passengers between 36 airports. On December 30, the carrier is renamed Deutsche Verkehrsflug, A. G. It will be absorbed by DLH early in the decade.
World History
