Ad Astra Aero

Ad Astra Aero (Latin for fly to the stars ) was a Swiss airline.

Time of the pioneers

In the commercial register it was registered on 15 December 1919 as a joint stock company, and on February 24, 1920 was born from the merger of the airline Frick & Co, which was founded in May 1919 Aero Society Comte Mittelholzerstrasse & Co. in Zurich, the Ad Astra Aero AG. Alfred Comte was appointed chief pilot for land planes and Walter Mittelholzerstrasse head of the photography department by the Board. On April 21, 1920, the purchase of the Avion Tourisme S. A. in Geneva and the increase of share capital to 600,000 Swiss francs was made. After the recent merger, the company in Ad Astra Aero, Avion Tourisme S. was A. (Swiss air traffic A.-G. ) renamed. In the first two years of operation, aerial photography and aviation demand were the main focus of operations, and in June 1922, the first scheduled flight Genf-Zürich-Fürth/Nürnberg took place. The driving forces in the Ad Astra were the aviation pioneers Walter Mittelholzerstrasse and Alfred Comte. On behalf of Junkers flew to Berlin, Danzig and Riga. With the Junkers F 13 Comte and Mittelholzerstrasse took in late summer 1919 flights over the Alps, Ticino, the Matterhorn, the Bernese Alps, and on September 11, 1919 they succeeded overflight of the 4810 meter high Mont Blanc. The co- CEO of Ad Astra, H. Pillichody, led on July 18, 1921 first Alpine passenger flight with the Junkers F 13 and five passengers in the Bernese Alps by.

The two deaths the company's history occurred on May 24, 1920, when the chief pilot for seaplanes, Taddeoli, and his mechanic had an accident at an air show in Roman Horn aboard a Savoia flying boat. Financial problems limited to flight operations in the first year of operation; the Board therefore recommended on December 23, 1920 to maintain only the pilots Pillichody, Cartier and Weber. Flight operations were limited to the flight stations Zurich and Geneva.

Flight routes

In joint business with the Junkers air transport between Fürth - Zurich -Geneva was born on June 1, 1921 opened and secured with four F 13, and the first airline of Switzerland took the Ad Astra regular international flights. The line of the route was incumbent F. Pillichody, who also carried out the first scheduled flight, and Gotthard Sachsenbergstraße of Junkers; from September 1922 extended this the route to Berlin. In April 1924, the air traffic routes Zurich -Stuttgart- Frankfurt followed (operated by the Trans- European Union), with connections to the route Berlin -Amsterdam. The Ad Astra route Geneva - Zurich -Munich received in the same month a new intermediate station in Lausanne. As of May 15, 1924 Zurich -Munich- Vienna was recorded for passenger flights to the route network. 1925 had the Ad Astra their operation of the Trans European Union disconnect because the Swiss authorities did not pay subsidies for an international company, and was therefore limited to operate on their regular line Geneva - Zurich - Munich, exclusively with Swiss aircraft and pilots. However, they participated in the TRUST or European Union and has been included in the IATA 1926. On 14 June 1928, the first serious accident occurred in the Swiss passenger air travel: a Junkers F 13, the Ad Astra crashed after takeoff at Niederrad / Frankfurt from; the pilot F. Chardon and three passengers were seriously injured.

Means Holzer Africa Flights

The Swiss media events of the 1920s were Walter Holzer agent Africa flights. The flights were mainly of aerial photography and mapping. So he undertook in 1926/27, the first transcontinental seaplane expedition from Zurich via Egypt to South Africa. In the winter of 1924/25, Mittelholzerstrasse flew with great difficulty to Tehran. The trip with two emergency landings lasted a month. Its flights are considered technical performance for that time. 1930, in a further flight to Africa, Walter Mittelholzerstrasse flew as first pilot on the Kilimanjaro.

Aircraft fleet

The modern Junkers F 13 ( matriculation CH -91, CH -92, CH- 93 and CH- 94) and Junkers G 23 have been hired by the Ad Astra partially. Besides, she devoted herself to post and photo flights with smaller machines, some with decommissioned military aircraft. From Zurich Horn ( Zurich -Seefeld ) also seaplanes were used. Among the used aircraft types included, among others, two Dornier Merkur high-wing B- Bal Mercury ( CH-142/171 ), which were equipped for Central Africa Holzer flights with floats, three Fokker F.VII ( CH-190/192/193 ), a BFW / Messerschmitt M18d (CH -191 ), at least one designed by Alfred Comte Comte AC-4 and flying boats of Italian origin.

Merger with Balair to Swissair

According took place on December 31, 1930 retroactive decision of the General Meeting on March 17, 1931 by merger with the Basler air traffic AG ( Balair ) the dissolution of the airline. By the provisions urged by the Federal Aviation Authority merger of Ad Astra Aero with the deficit and also subsidized Balair the new airline Swissair, whose technical director Walter Mittelholzerstrasse was created.