ir erbia’s ugoslavian oots
T
he first airline to operate in the Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats and Slovenians was established
on June 17, 1927 as the Society for Air
Transport – Aeroput.
Granted with ten years’ worth of government subsidies that
effectively covered 75% of its operating expenses, Aeroput
f light operations began on February 15, 1928 when it launched
a domestic route from Belgrade–Zagreb using a Potez 29-2
five-seat single-engined biplane. The first sector was f lown by
Andreja Strizevski and Tadija Sondermajer, the latter Aeroput’s
founder and General Manager. A year later, the route gained
an international extension to Vienna before Aeroput started
servicing Belgrade–Skopje.
Meanwhile, the Kingdom’s name changed and Aeroput
became the f lag carrier of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and thef leet soon expanded. In 1931, the airline added an eight-seat
Farman F.306 monoplane and a de Havilland DH.80A Puss
Moth. A year later a DH.60M Moth and DH.83 Fox Moth
were acquired and in 1934 three Spartan Cruiser Mk IIs and a
locally built Breguet XIX biplane were purchased.
Over the years, Aeroput extended most of its domestic
services and this led to additional aircraft deliveries, including
its first DH.89 Dragon Rapide in June 1936. This was joined
by the sole MMS-3 aerial taxi; designed by Aeroput’s own
team and built in Serbia.
The extension of government
subsidies for two more years led
to a 1937 acquisition of two short-
haul Caudron C.448 Goelands
and two Lockheed L.10A ElectraThe Balkan’s Airline
PhoenixPhoenixPhoenix
84 AIRLINER Classics 2018
A total of 14 new
DC-9-32s were
delivered between
1970 and 1973, and
these supplemented
Caravelles on the
further expanded
international routes.
YU-AJK is seen here
visiting Heathrow on
No ember 1, 1973.
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