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Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S or DDL, trading in English as Danish Air Lines, was
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , established ...
's
national airline A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hist ...
from 1918 until it merged to create
Scandinavian Airlines System Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...
(SAS) in 1951. DDL was established on 29 October 1918, but started its first scheduled route on 7 August 1920.


History

In 1920, the first airplane, a
Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH was a German aircraft manufacturing company. Overview The company was founded in 1912 in Friedrichshafen, Germany by Theodor Kober who had previously worked for the Zeppelin company. The town, which is located b ...
49c, was acquired from the
Deutsche Luft-Reederei Deutsche Luft-Reederei (D.L.R.), was a German airline established in December 1917 which started operating in 1919. History The name means "German (Deutsche) Air (Luft) Shipping Company (Reederei)". D.L.R. was reorganized as Aero Lloyd AG in 1 ...
(D.L.R.) in Germany. The airplane, with the previous German navy registration 1364, was almost new, and had been refitted for passenger transport before being delivered from Germany. It received the Danish registration letters T-DABA, and was used for the Copenhagen-
Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...
-
Warnemünde (, literally ''Mouth of the Warnow'') is a seaside resort and a district of the city of Rostock in Mecklenburg, Germany. It is located on the Baltic Sea and, as the name implies, at the estuary of the river Warnow. is one of the world's bus ...
route in cooperation with the D.L.R. This plane was later returned to Germany, apparently because the transfer was not in accordance with the
Versailles treaty The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
. In 1921 another F.F.49c plane from D.L.R. was acquired as a replacement for the first, with the previous German navy registration 3078. For unknown reasons this airplane used the same Danish registration T-DABA. In the early 1920s, the airline relied on four chartered Fokker-Grulich F.III aircraft, but also
Dornier Komet The Dornier ''Komet'' ("Comet"), ''Merkur'' ("Mercury"), Do C, Do D, and Do T were a family of aircraft manufactured in Germany during the 1920s, originally as small airliners, but which saw military use as well. The earliest aircraft in the se ...
,
Junkers F.13 The Junkers F 13 was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, developed in Germany at the end of World War I. It was an advanced cantilever-wing monoplane, with enclosed accommodation for four passengers. 322 planes of the type were manu ...
s and the Airco DH.9. In 1926 the first of a total of four Farman F.121 ''Jabiru'' 4-engined commercial airliners, seating nine passengers, were acquired. It was registered as T-DOXB, and was used on the Copenhagen to Amsterdam line. Amsterdam was a hub with connections to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
and
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. The aircraft were withdrawn from use in 1928 and 1929, and broken up by 1931. In the late 1920s,
Fokker F.VII The Fokker F.VII, also known as the Fokker Trimotor, was an airliner produced in the 1920s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, Fokker's American subsidiary Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, and other companies under licence. Design and d ...
single-engined airliners replaced the somewhat problematic and expensive to operate Farmans. In 1933, the airline got the first of two 16 passenger Fokker F.XII airliners. They were built under license by Orlogsværftet. Both aircraft were scrapped by 1946. In 1938, two
Focke-Wulf Fw 200 The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 ''Condor'', also known as ''Kurier'' to the Allies (English: Courier), was a German all-metal four-engined monoplane originally developed by Focke-Wulf as a long-range airliner. A Japanese request for a long-range maritime ...
''Condor'' 26 passenger airliners were acquired. One, ''Dania'', was seized by the British after Denmark was invaded by German forces in 1940, and damaged beyond repair in 1941. The other, ''Jutlandia'', survived the war and continued in DDL service until damaged beyond repair at
Northolt Northolt is a town in West London, England, spread across both sides of the A40 trunk road. It is west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the seven major towns that make up the London Borough of Ealing. It had a population of 30,304 at ...
in 1946. In 1946, the airline started intercontinental traffic in cooperation with Det Norske Luftfartselskap and Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik in an SAS Agreement. On October 1, 1950 representatives from the three airlines signed a consortium agreement where they appointed SAS to run the airline operations. DDL thus changed status from being an active airline into becoming a holding company for the Danish interests within SAS.


Accidents and incidents

* On 2 May 1933,
Fokker F.VII The Fokker F.VII, also known as the Fokker Trimotor, was an airliner produced in the 1920s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, Fokker's American subsidiary Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, and other companies under licence. Design and d ...
a OY-DAC crashed in fog while approaching Hannover, killing the pilot; the aircraft was operating a cargo (mail) flight. * On 17 December 1945, Fokker F.XII OY-DIG ''Merkur'' was written off after crashing at Kastrup Airport. * On 30 January 1946, Boeing B-17G OY-DFE ''Trym Viking'' ran off the runway and struck RAF Dakota ''KG427'' while landing at Kastrup Airport; there were no casualties, but both aircraft were written off. * On 4 September 1946, Focke-Wulf Fw 200A-05 Condor OY-DEM ''Jutlandia'' was written off following a crosswind landing at Northolt Airport. * On 17 February 1947,
Douglas C-47A The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...
OY-AEB ''Rane Viking'' force-landed on the ice off Malmö due to fuel exhaustion. While approaching Copenhagen the crew encountered fog and poor visibility and diverted to Malmö, but the weather there was also poor. The crew decided to return to Copenhagen but the aircraft ran out of fuel and force-landed on the ice and burned out. * On 29 December 1947, Vickers Viking 1B OY-DLI ''Torulf Viking'' lost control, stalled and crashed in shallow water while on approach to Kastrup Airport; all 24 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off. * On 12 February 1948,
Douglas C-53 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...
OY-DCI ''Sejr Viking'' crashed in a field at Ulrichstein, Germany while on approach to Frankfurt following engine failure, killing 12 of 21 on board. * On 8 February 1949, Vickers Viking 1B OY-DLU ''Torlak Viking'' crashed in the sea off Barsebäck, Sweden, killing all 27 on board; the wreckage was found a month later in of water. The accident remains the second deadliest in Sweden, behind Linjeflyg Flight 277.


References


External links


Early DDL time tables



DDL accident record
{{Portal bar, Aviation, Companies, Denmark Defunct airlines of Denmark Airlines established in 1918 Airlines disestablished in 1951 SAS Group 1918 establishments in Denmark 1951 disestablishments in Denmark 1951 mergers and acquisitions