South West African Airways (SWAA) was the first commercial air service in

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

(now

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

). It operated from 1930 until 1935, when it was taken over by

South African Airways South African Airways (SAA) is the flag carrier airline of South Africa. Founded in 1934, the airline is headquartered in Airways Park at O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg and operated a hub-and-spoke network, serving ten destin ...

History

South African military forces occupied

German South West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

continued to administer the territory after the war, under a mandate from the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. In 1930, the administration invited tenders for an air mail and passenger carrier service. The successful tenderer was the

Junkers Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I, English: Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works) more commonly Junkers , was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It was founded there in Dessau, Germ ...

aircraft company in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, which then formed South West African Airways. Naturally, SWAA's fleet consisted of Junkers. The company was founded by F. Hoepfner, a German air ministry official. Regular flight services started in August 1931. The crew's chief pilot was the British aviator F.C.J. Fry. The SWAA's red and white logo depicted three stylised aircraft within a circle. SWAA flew passengers on routes in South West Africa, and into South Africa, and an air-mail service from

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

and Kimberley. In 1932, SWAA amalgamated with

Union Airways Union Airways of South Africa was the first South African commercial airline. It operated as an independent company for five years, from 1929 to 1934, before being taken over by the government as South African Airways. History Union Airways w ...

in South Africa, but continued to operate under its own name. In 1935,

, which had taken over Union Airways in 1934, bought out SWAA for 14,000 rands.

Fleet

* 2

Junkers A50 The Junkers A50 ''Junior'' was a German sports plane of the 1930s. Development The Junkers A50 was the first sportsplane designed by Hermann Pohlmann in Junkers works. Krzyżan, Marian. ''Międzynarodowe turnieje lotnicze 1929-1934'' nternation ...

* 1

Junkers F.13 The Junkers F 13 was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, developed in Weimar Republic, Germany at the end of World War I. It was an advanced Cantilever#Aircraft, cantilever-wing monoplane, with enclosed accommodation for four passenge ...

References

Bibliography

* * Defunct airlines of Namibia Airlines established in 1930 Airlines disestablished in 1935 1930 establishments in South West Africa 1935 disestablishments in South West Africa 1935 mergers and acquisitions {{Africa-airline-stub