Aero Portuguesa

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Sociedade Aero Portuguesa, Lda.
IATA code : without
ICAO code : without
Call sign : unknown
Founding: 1934
Operation stopped: 1953
Seat: Lisbon
Home airport : Lisbon Portela Airport
Fleet size:
Aims: Morocco, West Africa, Angola, South America
Sociedade Aero Portuguesa, Lda. ceased operations in 1953. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

The Aero Portuguesa (AP) was a Portuguese airline based in Lisbon . In particular, her line Casablanca -Lisbon achieved fame through the final scene in the film Casablanca .

history

The AP was founded on June 22, 1934 by Captain João Júdice de Vasconcelos. The AP was based in Rua do Alecrim in Lisbon. The start-up capital was mainly provided by the entrepreneur António de Medeiros e Almeida, who had been importing Morris automobiles since 1924 . Air France became the main shareholder . The AP was the first provider of regular airlines in Portugal after Serviços Aéreos Portugueses (SAP), founded in 1927 with German participation, was the first Portuguese commercial airline to offer flights to Seville and Madrid. On October 14, 1934, the Aero Portuguesa began its flight operations, with a flight from Parque Aeronáutico de Alverca to Tangier in Morocco with the Fokker Joyeuse chartered by Air France .

In the politically difficult period of World War II , the AP connections gained some importance. Neutral Portugal, and especially its capital, Lisbon, was not only a center of international espionage , but also an important hub for refugees and emigrants . With its connections in particular to Morocco (in addition to the Spanish Tangier, especially to the French Casablanca), the neutral Portugal managed to maintain a connection to an area of ​​the Allies .

The AP also operated connections to West Africa ( Dakar ) and from there to South America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile). In addition to the passenger service, the mail transport and the freight service were part of the AP's business model. However, further plans to expand the flight plan could not be implemented due to Portugal's neutrality.

The AP flew between 1934 and 1953, only to be disbanded and integrated into Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (TAP), Portugal's national airline.

fleet

See also

Individual evidence

  1. Article in the Aero Portuguesa magazine , June 1951 issue in the Restos de Colecção blog , accessed on April 12, 2014
  2. João Moreira dos Santos: Josephine Baker in Portugal . 1st edition, Casa Sassetti, Cascais 2011, p. 48, ISBN 978-989-95168-6-1
  3. The flight plan of the Aero Portuguesa 1937 at www.timetableimages.com, accessed on April 12, 2014