Ad Astra Aero

Ad Astra Aero (Latin for "to the stars air") was a Swiss airline based at Zürichhorn in Zürich.

Early years

Initiated by

On December 15, 1919, Ad Astra Aero S.A. was registered as an Aktiengesellschaft, and on 24 February 1920, Ad Astra Aero merged with the airlines Frick & Co and Aero-Gesellschaft Comte Mittelholzer & Co to form Ad Astra Aero AG in Zürich.^[3] Alfred Comte was appointed by the board as chief pilot for land planes and Walter Mittelholzer as head of the aerial photography department. On 21 April 1920, Avion Tourisme SA in Geneva was bought and the share capital was doubled to 600,000 Swiss francs. Following the recent merger, the company was renamed in Ad Astra Aero, Avion Tourisme S. A. (Schweiz. Luftverkehrs A.-G.).^[4] Flight stations were created in Bern, Geneva, Lugano, Romanshorn and Zürich (Zürichhorn and Schwamendingen).

On 24 May 1920, Émile Taddéoli, the chief pilot for seaplanes, and his mechanic, died during a demonstration flight at an air show in Romanshorn aboard a Savoia flying boat.^[4] Financial constraints limited the operations in the first year of operation, and so the Board of Directors recommended on December 23, 1920, to reduce the flight crew to the pilots Pillichody, Cartier and Weber. Operations were limited to the air stations at Zürichhorn and Geneva.

In 1920, the seven pilots of the company did 4,699 tourist flights with 7,384 passengers, resulting in 1,254 hours' flight time and a total distance of about 166,920 kilometres (103,720 mi). Ad Astra Aero closed its first year with a huge loss of 426,365 Swiss francs, and a 410,757-Swiss-franc loss in the second fiscal year.^[2] The co-CEO of Ad Astra, Henry Pillichody, made on July 18, 1921, with five passengers the first Alpine passenger flight with the Junkers F.13 airplane in the Bernese Alps.^[4]

In the first two years of operational service, aerial photography and

The Swiss media events of the 1920s were Walter Mittelholzer's Africa flights for aerial photography and cartography purposes. In 1924, he did the first transcontinental flight expedition, starting from the water airport at Zürichhorn via Egypt to South Africa. Mittelholzer's aircraft was a Dornier Merkur (CH-142); it was taken over on March 26, 1931, by the Swissair airline and taken out of service in 1932.^[5] In winter 1924/25, Mittelholzer flew to Tehran; the trip lasted a month including two emergency landings. Its flights are considered outstanding technical achievements of its time. In 1930, during another flight to Africa, Walter Mittelholzer was the first pilot to fly over Mount Kilimanjaro.

Fleet

The modern