On that 15th February 1928, a Potez 29-2 biplane, under the name‘Belgrade’, ewfromBelgrade bound for Zagreb and arrived two hours later. Last June saw Air Serbia celebrate 92 years of civil aviation, commemorating themore thannine decades since the foundingof its original predecessor, Aeroput, and this February sees the airlinemark anothermajor anniversary – 92 years since the rst ight operated along the Belgrade-Zagreb route. Aeroput’s rst planes arrived at the Belgrade Airport in early February 1928. Aeroput’s management bought four“Potez 29/2”typebiplanes fromaFrenchcompany. Aeroput’s management opted for this type of aircraft because the local Ikarus factory in Zemun, under license fromthe sameFrenchcompany, produced “Potez 25” aircraft for the needs of the Air Force Command and its aviation unit. The rst promotional ight was conducted between Belgrade and Zagreb on 15th February 1928. The Potez 29/2 type aircraft, under the name“Belgrade”, took to the skies at 9am, under the command of company director Tadija Sondermajer and Vladimir Striževski. The rst passengers, of course, were journalists and photojournalists, with the veof themcoming from the Belgrade media scene. “Wheels hurl mud in all directions,” noted Politika’s journalist, “as we climb and our plane leans into a spin, it seems to us that we have not tilted, but rather that the whole of Belgrade has slanted to the side andwill plunge into the Sava.” After a two-hour ight through gloomy weather, the plane landed at Borongaj Airport, but not before making a couple of laps above Zagreb. It was greeted by a large number of citizens and representatives of the authorities, and that same afternoon saw a group of Zagreb journalists y to Belgrade. During those rst years Aeroput ew the Belgrade-Zagreb route every day except Sundays, all the way until November, when winter weather conditions led to the suspendingof air tra c. Anddespite thehighprice of tickets and passengers’ fear of ying, the response was greater than expected! Prvi putnici bili su novinari i foto-reporteri The first passengers were journalists and photojournalists
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzExMjc5