Continentale Deutsche Luftreederei
| Continentale Deutsche Luftreederei GmbH | |
|---|---|
| IATA code : | (without) |
| ICAO code : | (unknown) |
| Call sign : | (unknown) |
| Founding: | 1958 |
| Operation stopped: | 1962 |
| Seat: |
Hamburg , Germany
|
| Home airport : | Hamburg Airport |
| Company form: | GmbH |
| Management: |
|
| Number of employees: | 55 |
| Fleet size: | 3 |
| Aims: | international |
| Continentale Deutsche Luftreederei GmbH ceased operations in 1962. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
The Continentale German air Reederei GmbH , shortly CDL , was a German airline with headquarters in Hamburg .
History and destinations
Previous events
A central figure in the history of the CDL is the Portuguese Mario Ferreira. Initially, he traded aircraft and aircraft spare parts in Europe on behalf of the US American Eastern Aircraft Corporation and later rose to become the main shareholder of this same company.
In his new position, he sold two Douglas DC-4s (former military Douglas C-54Bs ) to the Hamburg airline Aerotour and took a stake in the German company himself through the funds of the Eastern Aircraft Corporation. Ferreira had promised the Aerotour additional credit and financial aid, which the company did not receive. Instead, the Hamburg airline soon found itself confronted with problems with regard to the C-54B aircraft: contrary to what Ferreira had advertised, they were subject to technical defects and thus made profitable use impossible.
In order to secure new financial resources, Ferreira turned to the Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft at this point ; he pretended that as a supposed heir to the Ferraris, he would soon have millions. The bank granted him a partial loan in the amount of 1.5 million marks, for which it had the two C-54Bs assigned as security. Despite the loan, the Aerotour's financial situation deteriorated noticeably. Ferreira then took over the remaining shares in the German airline, again with the help of the Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft. Its previous owner, Helmut Krukenberg, was forced to leave the company, even though the company finally filed for bankruptcy three weeks later, on December 16, 1958 . The two machines were seized by the Hamburg airport administration to secure their outstanding claims .
Foundation, rise and bankruptcy of the CDL
On the day of the Aerotour bankruptcy, Ferreira founded a new company in agreement with the Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft, which was to serve as a rescue company: the Continentale Deutsche Luftreederei . In the eyes of his financiers, a profitable use of the two Douglas C-54B was still possible - not knowing that Ferreira was intent on a diametrically opposite project at the time. The newly founded company was supposed to assume liabilities of 2,775,000 marks, for which the Portuguese was personally liable from his time as Aerotour owner. Because he was unable to raise the share capital of 200,000 marks despite bills of exchange and start-up credits , he had a loan issued for this amount on behalf of the Eastern Aircraft Corporation. The lender was - again - the Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft, which also released the two seized Aerotour-C-54Bs from the Hamburg airport administration and sold them to CDL at an installment price of 2 million marks.
Nonetheless, operational flight operations could not commence, as the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt refused to issue an operating license. On the one hand, the existing share capital was below the amount of 500,000 marks required for airlines, and on the other hand, the company was majority owned by Ferreira - even though foreigners were only allowed to hold 49% of German airlines by law. Ferreira countered the problems by forging bank statements and transferring 51% of his shares in the CDL to the Hamburg District Court Judge Helmut Schneider. In view of the dubious circumstances, the latter soon left the CDL in exchange for a severance payment; his role was taken over by the later general manager Kurt Franz Kraemer.
After being granted an operating license on May 11, 1959, the CDL transported around 77 tons of freight and 4,000 passengers between June and December of the same year. Kraemer, the CDL auditors and his colleagues from the management stated in an affirmation on 13 July 1960 in lieu of an oath that the necessary share capital was available. In doing so, they ignored the fact that the bank for the common economy could only provide the remaining 255,000 marks three days later. Ferreira had meanwhile transferred his remaining shares of 49% and an equivalent of 245,000 marks to the Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft before he left for Paris in view of police investigations. The CDL supervisory board chairman Max Wachtel, acting on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport, finally prohibited Ferreira from working on the CDL management team.
Nevertheless, the CDL succeeded in entering the charter air traffic in the following period . With passenger and cargo flights to America, Africa, Australia and the Far East, the CDL was able to achieve an annual turnover of 11.5 million marks in 1961, so that two more Douglas C-54Bs were acquired in installments. The company also took part in the United Nations operation in the Congo , even though UN inspectors discovered seven tons of small arms on one of the CDL flights. These were brought on board through the fault of the Belgian Sabena . In addition, the company entered into a cooperation with the French Union Aéromaritime de Transport , or UAT for short: The two companies transported vacationers to Mallorca using a Douglas DC-6 . Another Douglas C-54B followed in 1962.
At this point in time, the CDL was also confronted with the first liquidity bottlenecks: Not only could fuel bills not be paid, the cooperation with the French UAT also resulted in an amount of 1 million marks to be paid by the CDL. The Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft again issued a transitional loan of 200,000 marks, while the customer credit bank took over the remaining financing of a C-54B including liens. The conversion of some C-54Bs into Aviation Traders ATL-98s , which was planned as early as 1961 , was also dropped. As a result of engine damage, engine failures, breach of contract by other companies and the infidelity of an employee, the CDL's financial situation deteriorated further; Likewise, contracts for cargo flights worth 600,000 marks were lost, so that, among other things, the unpaid fuel bills at Esso at the end of 1962 totaled around 468,000 marks. Moreover, in the eyes of the public, the image of the failed Aerotour and the associated lack of confidence from passengers and organizers on the CDL still weighed down.
In view of the capital stock used up, the management of CDL tried to merge with Air Lloyd Deutsche Nah-Luftverkehr , which was also loss-making . However, the project failed and so on December 12, 1962, the CDL applied for a settlement procedure to avert bankruptcy. This endeavor also failed - more than 4 million marks in debt stood in contrast to two old Douglas C-54Bs and the spare parts store - and so the insolvency proceedings were finally opened immediately. The remaining assets turned out to be so small that even large creditors could only partially cover their claims: The Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft was left with a loss of another 600,000 marks in addition to Ferreira's private debts of 100,000 marks.
fleet
At the time of its existence, the Continentale Deutsche Luftreederei operated the following five machines:
| Aircraft type | number | Aircraft registration | Construction year | in | except | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| service | ||||||
| Douglas C-54 | 1 | D-ADAM | 1943 | 1961 | 1963, bankruptcy | to Aviation Traders as G-ASKN , conversion to ATL-98 |
| Douglas C-54A | 1 | D-AGUS | 1944 | 1962 | 1963, bankruptcy | to Boreas Corporation as N4273A |
| Douglas C-54B | 3 | D-ABEB | 1945 | 1959 | 1961 | Destroyed in a crash on June 17, 1961 in Kano (Nigeria) |
| D-ABEF | 1944 | 1959 | 1962 | to the French Air Force as 10454 | ||
| D-ANEK | 1944 | 1960 | 1963, bankruptcy | to Aviation Traders as G-ASKD , conversion to ATL-98 | ||
| Douglas C-54D / R-5D-3 | 1 | D-AMAX | ? | 1962, not removed |
to Malta Metropolitan as VP-MAA | |
Incidents
- On June 17, 1961, the Douglas C-54B coming from Tripoli with the aircraft registration D-ABEB was flown into the ground during a nocturnal approach to the airport of Kano (Nigeria) . The chartered machine hit the runway threshold around 3.7 kilometers and went up in flames after the pilot in charge had concentrated solely on the approach lighting and thus piloted the machine below the necessary obstacle clearance altitude of 110 meters with insufficient spatial orientation . One of the seven occupants was hit by propeller number 2, which came loose and pierced the cabin, when the machine hit. Any rescue attempts by another passenger and the cockpit crew were unsuccessful in view of the prevailing fire. Furthermore, a mechanic was thrown out of the machine when it landed and was seriously burned as a result of the explosion of a fuel tank. The subsequent investigation into the incident revealed that the commander's fatigue and the failure to turn on the landing lights had contributed to the incident.
See also
Web links
- Photos of machines of the Continentalen Deutsche Luftreederei in the archive of Air-Britain
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c World Airline Survey - Continentale Deutsche Luftreederei GmbH - CDL . In: Flight International . tape 83 , no. 2822 . Iliffe Transport Publications, London April 11, 1963, pp. 520 (English, flightglobal.com [accessed August 22, 2017]).
- ↑ a b c d Contiluft bankruptcy - Ferreira's million dollar legacy . In: Der Spiegel . No. 5/1963 , January 30, 1963, pp. 44-47 .
- ^ Krukenberg's Spanish Disease . In: The time . No. 6/1959 , February 6, 1959.
- ↑ Klaus Vomhof: Leisure Airlines of Europe . Scoval, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 2001, ISBN 1-902236-09-2 , pp. 59 (English).
- ↑ a b Karl-Dieter Seifert: Der deutsche Luftverkehr 1955–2000, Weltverkehr, Liberalisierung, Globalisierung (= Die deutsche Luftfahrt . No. 29 ). Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-7637-6121-7 , pp. 47, 348 .
- ^ Airline Market Place . In: Flight . tape 80 , no. 2745 . Iliffe Transport Publications, London October 19, 1961, pp. 645 (English, flightglobal.com [accessed August 22, 2017]).
- ^ William Patrick Dean: The ATL-98 Carvair: A Comprehensive History of the Aircraft and All 21 Airframes . McFarland & Company, Jefferson 2008, ISBN 978-1-4766-6280-0 , pp. 257 (English).
- ^ Joachim Wölfer: German Passenger Aviation from 1955 to the present day . Mittler, Berlin, Bonn, Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-8132-0477-4 , pp. 56 .
- ↑ Joe Baugher: USAF Serials 1941-5 (English), accessed August 24, 2017.
- ↑ Peter Berry, Tom Dunstall, Michael Ford, John A. Whittle: The Douglas DC-4 . Air-Britain (Historians), Hutton, Brentwood 1967, p. 27 (English).
- ↑ Peter Berry, Tom Dunstall, Michael Ford, John A. Whittle: The Douglas DC-4 . Air-Britain (Historians), Hutton, Brentwood 1967, p. 39 (English).
- ↑ a b Joe Baugher: USAF Serials 1942-4 (English), accessed August 24, 2017.
- ^ A b Tony Eastwood, John Roach: Piston Engine Airliner Production List . The Aviation Hobby Shop, West Drayton 1996, ISBN 0-907178-61-8 (English).
- ↑ a b Peter Berry, Tom Dunstall, Michael Ford, John A. Whittle: The Douglas DC-4 . Air-Britain (Historians), Hutton, Brentwood 1967, p. 43 (English).
- ↑ Peter Berry, Tom Dunstall, Michael Ford, John A. Whittle: The Douglas DC-4 . Air-Britain (Historians), Hutton, Brentwood 1967, p. 50 (English).
- ↑ Flight accident data and report for the Douglas C-54B D-ABEB in the Aviation Safety Network , accessed on August 22, 2017.
- ↑ Continentale Deutsche Luftreederei, G. mb H., Douglas C-54 (B-DC), D-ABEB, accident 2 NM from the threshold of runway 07, Kano Airport, Nigeria on June 17, 1961. In: Aircraft Accident Digest No. 13. ICAO Circular 69-AN / 61. International Civil Aviation Organization, Montreal 1964, Part I., S. 110-116 (English).
