Ad Astra Aero

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. 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. 4,807 metres (15,771 ft)).