Ago (airline)

Ago joint-stock company was an airline in the Republic of Estonia . It existed from 1939 to 1940.

Company history

founding

In 1928, the first Estonian airline, Aeronaut , went bankrupt. Since then, Estonia has only been served by foreign lines: the Finnish Aero , the Swedish ABA , the Polish LOT and the German Lufthansa . The number of flights grew, especially after the new Tallinn-Ülemiste airfield went into operation in the mid-1930s. In 1937, the airport already recorded almost 12,000 passengers.

On February 21, 1939, the new Estonian airline Ago was founded at the instigation of the Estonian government. It should be financed 50% from state capital and 50% from private owners. The share capital was 550,000  Estonian crowns .

In addition to the Estonian state, the shareholders were the shipping company Tallinna Laevaühisus , founded in 1911 , the bus company OÜ Mootor and the travel agency Carl F. Gahlnbäck . The President of Krediitpank , Peeter Kurvits , was elected Chairman of the Supervisory Board . The director of OÜ Mootor , August Kerem , became managing director .

Planes

In 1939 Ago ordered two Junkers Ju 52 / 3m machines from Germany . The purchase price totaled 680,000 Estonian crowns.

The three-engine machines could each carry 18 passengers and cargo. Estonian airmail should be carried with Ago machines whenever possible .

The first machine arrived in Tallinn on October 5, 1939 (Estonian aircraft registration ES-AGO , formerly D-AXWA ). It was flown by the Estonian military pilot Peeter Olt (1896-1970). At that time Germany was still at war with Poland .

The second aircraft landed on Estonian soil on October 20, 1939 (Estonian aircraft registration ES-AUL , formerly D-AXWB ), flown by the German pilot Tautzenberg.

Flight routes

At the time when Ago was founded by the German and Soviet policies of aggression, Europe was in a tense political situation. The first commercial flights of the Ago were delayed due to the outbreak of the so-called Winter War . On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded neighboring Finland . The war ended on March 13, 1940.

Ago's first international flight was on March 27, 1940 from Tallinn to Stockholm . The pilot of the maiden flight was Peeter Olt.

On April 2, 1940 the regular flight route from Tallinn to Helsinki was officially inaugurated. On April 10, 1940, the Tallinn-Stockholm line opened. The first passenger on the Ago from Tallinn to Helsinki was a diplomat from the Romanian legation in Oslo, who received a certificate and a badge.

On May 7, 1940, the route opened from Tallinn via Riga to Königsberg , which was to be served three times a week. There was a connecting flight from Königsberg directly to Berlin . At that time, Latvia and Lithuania did not have their own international airlines.

resolution

The political situation in Europe in the summer increasingly impaired air traffic with Estonia. On 14 June 1940 two shot Tupolev SB-2 of the Soviet Air Force , the Finnish passenger plane Kaleva in Estonian airspace from; it then fell into the sea. The background has not yet been fully clarified. All passengers and crew were killed.

A few days later the Red Army occupied Estonia. The airline Ago , like all larger Estonian companies, was nationalized by the Soviet authorities. In June 1941, both aircraft were brought into the interior of the Soviet Union and handed over to the airline Aeroflot . Their whereabouts are not known.

See also

• Former Airlines List (Europe)

Web links

• Arrival ( WMV ; 2.4 MB) of the first passenger plane destined for Ago at Tallinn-Ülemiste airport ( Eesti Kultuurfilm No. 71 of October 6, 1939)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Uus Eesti , November 27, 1938, p. 5
2. ↑ Uus Eesti , February 7, 1939, p. 1
3. ↑ Uus Eesti , February 22, 1939, p. 3
4. ↑ Riigi osavõtul tegutseva lennuaktsiaseltsi asutamise ja soodustamise seadus ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) , Riigi Teataja 1938, 106, 923; § 3
5. ↑ Uus Eesti , October 21, 1939, p. 7
6. ↑ Uus Eesti , March 28, 1940, p. 1
7. ↑ Uus Eesti , March 30, 1940, p. 1
8. ↑ Uus Eesti , April 3, 1940, p. 3
9. ↑ Uus Eesti , May 6, 1940, p. 4
10. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report of the shooting down on June 14, 1940 in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
11. ↑ Et Kihnu sai inimesi tais, asuti Manijale ( Memento from August 5, 1997 in the Internet Archive )