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Ad Astra Aero (Latin for "to the stars") was a Swiss airline based at Zürichhorn in Zürich. == Early years == Initiated by Oskar Bider and Fritz Rihner, in July 1919 the "Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Lufttourismus" (literally: Swiss corporation for air tourism) was established in Zürich]. Touristical flights with flying boats were planned from sites at Zürichhorn in Zürich-Riesbach, and in Genève, Interlaken/Thun, Locarno, Lugano, Luzern, Lausanne-Ouchy, Romanshorn and St. Moritz. Switzerland, with its numerous lakes, appeared predestined for the use of seaplanes, so that no expensive airports would have to be built. Oskar Bider was killed in an accident before the ambitious project was realized.〔(Website Gang dur Alt-Zürich: ''Das Zürichhorn und die Zivilaviatik'' )〕 The driving forces of the latter Ad Astra Aero company were the Swiss aviation pioneers Walter Mittelholzer and Alfred Comte. Using Junkers F.13, Comte and Mittelholzer undertook flights over the Alps, Ticino, Matterhorn, the Bernese Alps in late summer 1919, and on 11 September 1919 they succeeded in the crossing of the Mont Blanc (el. ). On December 15 1919 ''Ad Astra Aero S.A.'' was registered as an Aktiengesellschaft, and on 24 February 1920 Ad Astra Aero merged with the airlines ''Frick & Co'' and ''Aero-Gesellschaft Comte Mittelholzer & Co'' to form ''Ad Astra Aero AG'' in Zürich. Alfred Comte was appointed by the board as chief pilot for land planes and Walter Mittelholzer as head of the aerial photography department. On 21 April 1920 ''Avion Tourisme SA'' in Geneva was bought and the share capital was doubled to 600,000 Swiss francs. Following the recent merger, the company was renamed in ''Ad Astra Aero, Avion Tourisme S. A. (Schweiz. Luftverkehrs A.-G.)''.〔(''Junkers F13 im Weltluftverkehr'' on www.ju-f13.de )〕 Flight stations were held in Bern, Geneva, Lugano, Romanshorn and Zürich (Zürichhorn and Schwamendingen). On 24 May 1920 Emile Taddéoli, the chief pilot for seaplanes, and his mechanic, died during a demonstration flight at an air show in Romanshorn aboard a Savoia flying boat.〔 Financial constraints limited the operations in the first year of operation, and so the Board of Directors recommended on December 23, 1920, to reduce the flight crew to the pilots Pillichody, Cartier and Weber. Operations were limited to the air stations at Zürichhorn and Geneva. In 192, the seven pilots of the company did 4,699 touristical flights with 7,384 passengers, resulting in 1,254 hours flight time and a total distance of about . Ad Astra Aero closed its first year with a huge loss of 426,365 Swiss francs, and 410,757 Swiss francs loss in the second fiscal year.〔 The co-CEO of Ad Astra, Henry Pillichody, made on July 18, 1921, with five passengers the first Alpine passenger flight with the Junkers F.13 airplane in the Bernese Alps.〔 In the first two years of operational service, aerial photography and charter airline needs were the main focus of operations: in June 1922 the first scheduled flight route Geneva-Zürich-Nuremberg-Fuerth was established. In 1924 Alfred Comte founded the ''Alfred Comte Flug- und Sportfliegerschule'' in Horgen respectively Oberrieden; Walter Mittelholzer became Ad Astra's one and only CEO. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ad Astra Aero」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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