Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB, SILA, trading internationally as Swedish Intercontinental Airlines, was an airline formed in 1943 by banker

Marcus Wallenberg Jr. Marcus "Dodde" Wallenberg Jr. (5 October 1899 – 13 September 1982), was a Swedish banker, business manager and member of the Swedish Wallenberg family. He was the most influential representative for the Swedish industrial tradition and Swed ...

An early president of the airline was

Per Norlin Per Adolf Norlin (23 January 1905 – 11 January 1992) was a Swedish businessman. He was CEO of Swedish Intercontinental Airlines (SILA), Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and AB Aerotransport (ABA). Career Norlin was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the s ...

. In August 1946 with

Danish Air Lines Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S or DDL, trading in English as Danish Air Lines, was Denmark's national airline from 1918 until it merged to create Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) in 1951. DDL was established on 29 October 1918, but started its f ...

and

Norwegian Air Lines Det Norske Luftfartselskap A/S (literally "The Norwegian Aviation Company") or DNL, trading internationally as Norwegian Air Lines, was an airline and flag carrier of Norway. Founded in 1927, it operated domestic and international routes from 19 ...

it became a part of a three-airline consortium (later four, with

AB Aerotransport AB Aerotransport (ABA) was a Swedish government-owned airline which operated during the first half of the 20th century and was merged into what would become the SAS Group. ABA was established on 27 March 1924 under the name Aktiebolaget Aerotr ...

) that would eventually merge with a pooled capitalization of $25 million as

Scandinavian Airlines 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 Denmar ...

. The airline operated

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

and

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Thea ...

aircraft. In 1946, the company was asked by a group of Jewish Americans if it could transport about two thousand wealthy Jewish Poles out of Poland, to then fly to the United States to resettle there. Given a scarcity of aircraft (SILA operated only a twice-weekly schedule between Stockholm and Warsaw), the airline was not able to take action on the request. The airline was also a part of the 1946 introduction of United States

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be t ...

service to Copenhagen and Stockholm.

References

{{Airlines of Sweden Defunct airlines of Sweden Swedish companies established in 1943 Airlines established in 1943