AERO O/Y: Finland (1923-1947). Having received promises of technical support from the German aircraft builder Junkers Flugzeugwerke, A. G., Consul Bruno Otto Lucander (CEO of the Estonian carrier Aeronaut, A. S.) and associates sign a charter establishing Aero O/Y on September 12, 1923. The company is registered on October 9 and at shareholders’ meeting on November 1, the decision is taken to appoint Lucander as general manager and to begin operations. Additional startup capital is pledged on December 12.
The carrier’s first aircraft, a Junkers F-13 with interchangeable skis and floats, is delivered on March 14, 1924. Service is inaugurated on March 20—a mail flight from Helsinki to Tallinn.
In cooperation with the new operator ABA Swedish Airlines, A. B., a route is extended from Helsinki to Stockholm on June 2. The first Finnish pilot, Gunnar Lihr, is hired during the summer, bringing airline employment to seven. Atotal of 269 passengers are carried on the year.
During the summer of 1925, technical support from Junkers is lost following formation of the German airline Deutsche Luft Hansa, A. G. (DLH). During the year, 833 sight-seeing, charter flights are made.
With a government loan, a float-equipped Junkers G-24 is purchased; delivered on June 4, 1926, it is placed in summer-only service on the Stockholm frequency. The loan is actually a subsidy, which will be continued annually thereafter.
Aero O/Y joins the International Air Traffic Association (forerunner of today’s IATA) in 1927. During the spring, CEO Lucander and several journalists make the company’s first around-Finland flight. The Turku-Ruissalo air harbor is opened in May and Turku-Stockholm service is begun.
In June 1928 Gunnar Lihr, flying the F-13, rescues a crewman from the Italian airship Italia, downed north of Spitzbergen.
The company introduces summer season charters from Stockholm to Mariehamn on the Aland Islands. Also during the summer, the carrier begins night-airmail flights. During these nocturnal services, all Finnish post, including letters, postcards, and postal orders, are initially flown by air without special charge.
Pilot Lihr locates the wrecked Norwegian ship Bratvaag in 1929. Founder Lucander dies in August and is succeeded by Gunnar Stihle. Finnish investors buy out the last remaining Junkers interest in the company. By year’s end, the fleet includes 4 F-13s and 1 G-24.
Aero O/Y and ABA Swedish Airlines, A. B. introduce the marketing name “Scandinavian Air Express” in 1930 to cover their Stockholm-Helsinki operations, the northern portion of which is flown by Aero O/Y. Joint summer night-airmail services are also inaugurated, Stockholm-Helsinki-Amsterdam.
The first of five ordered Junkers Ju-52/3ms is delivered in late spring 1932 and is placed on the Helsinki-Stockholm route on July 1. The other 4 are delivered over the next 10 years. The G-24 is retired in 1935 and in September of that year, Finland’s first civil airport, Turku-Artukainen, is opened.
With the opening of the new Bromma Airport in early July 1936, the “Scandinavian Air Express” services, flown in cooperation with Aero O/Y, between Helsinki and Malmo are now extended on to Stockholm. The last Junkers F-13 Helsinki-Stockholm seaplane service is flown on December 15, as Aero O/Y’s operations are transferred to newly finished Helsinki Malmi Airport.
The first of two DeHavilland DH 89A Dragon Rapides is received in early 1937, allowing the offering of domestic service. On May 1, these British aircraft open routes from Helsinki to Vilpuri and Tampere.
The second DH 89A is delivered in 1938 and the Vilpuri route is extended to Imatra and the Tampere segment to Vassa.
During the summer, same-day “Arctic Air Express” service is introduced over a route from Helsinki to Petsamo, via Tampere, Vaasa, Oulu, and Kemi.
The Tallinn international route is lengthened, via Riga and Kaunas, to Berlin. Two Focke-Wulf FW-200 Condors are ordered in October for delivery the following autumn.
In the spring of 1939, the northern domestic route is extended to Oulu and Kemi. In October, all Finnish civil aviation is subjected to military control. Upon the outbreak of the Winter War on November 30, the Finnish Air Force takes over Aero O/Y’s two DH 89As. The Ju-52/3ms are transferred from Helsinki to Bassa in December, and service to Stockholm is maintained. Delivery of the FW-200s is cancelled and the carrier is forced to withdraw from transatlantic negotiations with the other Scandinavian countries.
With the war with Russia over in 1940, Helsinki service to Tallinn is restarted on April 2 and to Stockholm on April 3.
A “Lapland Express” is begun on June 2 over a route Helsinki-Tampere, Vassa, Kokkola, Oulu, Kemi, Rovaniemi, Sodankyla, and Pet-samo. A Soviet fighter plane near Kar, Estonia, shoots down a Ju-52/3m with nine passengers on June 20; there are no survivors.
Mariehamn is added to that network in October.
During the last week of March 1941,2 Douglas DC-2s, which had belonged to the Czech carrier CLS Czechoslovak Airlines, are obtained from Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. (DLH); these are delivered in April and, christened Voima and Sisu, enter service on June 1.
The Russo-Finnish Continuation War erupts on June 25. Once again, Aero O/Y’s fleet is subjected to military control; operations are shifted from Helsinki and Turku to Pori. At some point during the year, the airline receives the former Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G. (DLH) Junkers Ju-52/3m Th. Schopwinkel.
In 1942-1943, flights continue over essential routes to Rovaniemi, Stockholm, and Berlin. The last of the 5 ordered Ju-52/3ms is delivered during the former year, while the Voima and Sisu are taken over by the Finnish Air Force. The Continuation War ends on September 19, 1944.
With Malmi Airport under jurisdiction of the Allied Control Commission (ACC), the carrier’s surviving aircraft are transferred to Hyvinkaa. Service from Hyvinkaa-Stockholm, via Turku and Mariehamn, is launched in January 1945. This service is banned by the ACC on March 2 and Aero O/Y is required to stand down. Domestic operations resume on August 13, but Managing Director Stahle is forced to resign in December.
Domestic flights continue in 1946 under the leadership of Acting Managing Directors C. J. Ehrnrooth and Uolevi Raade. The government acquires 70% majority of the company’s stock, leaving the remaining 30% in private hands. The state purchases 8 war surplus Douglas C-47s, 5 of which are converted to civil DC-3 standard by Fokker in the Netherlands. The first DC-3 arrives at Helsinki on October 19.
In January 1947, the 7 additional DC-3s purchased by the Ministry of Communications and Public Works the previous year are received; all have been converted to civil standard. These begin domestic flights in May, the same month the airline’s administration is reorganized and the name Finnish Air Lines O/Y replaces the pioneering Aero O/Y.
AERO PACIFICO, S. A. de C. V.: Mexico (1989-1992). AP is organized at La Paz in 1989 to fly all-cargo services around the region employing a single Boeing C-97G Stratofreighter. The dramatic increase in fuel costs following Iraq’s August 1990 invasion of Kuwait puts the one-plane operation out of business.
The Stratofreighter is repainted at Tucson, Arizona, in October 1992, but the company suspends operations in December.
AERO PORTUGUESA (SOCIEDADE AERO PORTUGUEZA, S. A.): Portugal (1934-1953). This carrier is formed at Lisbon in June 1934 with controlling interest taken and assistance provided by Air France. With chartered French aircraft, a service is opened to Tangier on October 20. A pair of Wibault 283.T12s are acquired from the French state airline at decade’s end and employed to stretch the Tangier leg to Casablanca.
By 1942, only one Wibault remains in flying condition and, there being no spare parts available from France, operations are suspended. In the spring of 1943, the French surrender one-half of their shares to a Lisbon shipping company, allowing the carrier to become Portuguese controlled. Thrice-weekly flights to Casablanca resume on January 12, 1944 with a new Lockheed Lodestar; after V-E Day, the Tangier route is resumed.
There is no further expansion and the airline slides downhill toward its April 1953 shutdown.
World History
