80th Anniversary of First Commercial Flight

The first commercial flight of Aeroput, Jat Airways' precursor, took place on February 15, 1928, between Belgrade and Zagreb. A Potez-29 aircraft -christened Beograd - took off from Belgrade's air strip in Zemun at 9 a.m. Its passengers included, as is usual in such cases, Belgrade's press reporters and photoreporters. After a two-hour flight following the Sava River that could best guide the pilots, the plane was welcomed in Zagreb by officials and many interested individuals who came to witness this important event in aviation history. The same afternoon, a group of Zagreb reporters flew to Belgrade.

The event was preceded by the initiative from the Aero Club, which on February 6, 1926, formed in Belgrade the Committee to set down principles for founding the Aeroput aviation society. A ten-year contract was concluded with the government in January 1927 to secure subsidies to the amount of 26 dinars for each kilometer of flight. However, this could only cover 75 percent of the overall operating cost. The Society pledged to launch and maintain the Belgrade-Zagreb line as soon as possible. At the time, other European commercial aviation societies enjoyed similar benefits. Owing to the favorable contract and a true feat carried out by Yugoslav pilots Tadija Sondermajer and Leonid Bajdak – who performed the record flight from Paris to Bombay (India) and back with enormous promotional effect, nine million dinars worth of shares were subscribed as early as mid-January 1927. This sufficed to obtain the first airplanes and sustain the Society's regular operation so that the Belgrade Commercial Court formalized the Aeroput Civil Aviation Society on June 17, 1927.

The first obtained aircraft for Aeroput began arriving to Belgrade in early February 1928. They were French-made Potez 29 biplanes. The choice was obvious because the domestic manufacturer Ikarus in Zemun at the time turned out under license similar type aircraft - Potez 25 – for the Air Force. The Potez 29 airplane carried five passengers and two crew members, and developed a speed of 210 km/h with a range of 500 km. It remained part of Aeroput fleet until 1936.

In the first year, Aeroput aircraft flew between Belgrade and Zagreb every day except Sunday through November, when flights were discontinued due to winter conditions. Governed by the fine initial results, Aeroput expanded the number of lines and obtained two more Potez 29 aircraft thus increasing the fleet to a total of six planes of this type. The following year, 1929, the Belgrade-Zagreb line was extended to Graz and Vienna.