Belair: Last chapter for the mother of Swiss aviation
In March it will all be over. The last traces of Basel’s and also Switzerland’s pioneering aviation will disappear. The charter airline “Belair”, now branch of the dwindling vulture “Air Berlin”, will remain grounded.
The five founders and pilots of the „Basler Luftverkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft“, the Basel aviation company, did not fear flying. With a propeller plane from Fokker 1925 they flew from the Sternenfeld in Birsfelden to Freiburg im Breisgau or Mannheim.
In the initial few years after 1925, business was booming. The Sternenfeld was the biggest airport in Switzerland and the company owned four aircrafts. In hindsight the numbers are not too impressive. A total of 18,000 passengers, 320 tonnes of cargo and 143 tonnes of mail were transported over a period of six years by the proud pilots. The high-flying company was almost grounded for the first time in the economic crisis early last century. In January 1931, the Federal Office for Aviation decided that Balair should merge with the younger Zurich company, Ad Astra, to create the first national aviation company, Swissair. The headquarters were to be in Zurich, in the middle of the country.
But Baslers wouldn’t be Baslers if they feared flying: 22 years later they decided to start up a company under the leadership of the later member of federal government, Hans Peter Tschudin. The re-born Balair offered flight-training, aircraft maintenance and the handling of Swissair aircrafts at the Basel-Mulhouse airport. But those who want to see above the clouds need aircrafts, so Balair purchased two Vickers Vikings. As a small and efficient airline, Balair dominated the airport and attracted Swissair; first only as a shareholder in the 1950 before taking over the company at the start of the 1970s.
From bankruptcy to bankruptcy
What was about to happen had to happen. As the owner of the expensive planes, Balair carried the financial burden while being completely dependent on the mother company, Swissair. The conflict of interests between Zurich and Basel was predestined and Balair could never work efficiently. Although Swissair maintained the charter business up to the 1990s, the second Balair company was forced to close.
The third reincarnation at the end of the 1990s combined scheduled and chartered air services. Together with Swiss travel companies, Balair operated four Boeing jets for short and long distance flights. When Swissair was grounded in 2001, Balair also went bankrupt. With the succeeding company Belair, the Swiss travel agency Hotelplan wanted to limit the damage and operated the two Boeing planes.
Great work but still lost
Belair was then taken over by the German discount airline, Air Berlin. However, the then-ailing airline had to make further cutbacks this year. „Less is more,” the president of the board of managers, Stephan Pichler, said in December.
He has been dismissed in the meantime, just like his five predecessors. As with the Swissair, Air Berlin might be taken over sooner or later by the Germany company Lufthansa – however for the right price. The irony of this story is that Belair with its 73 employees has been profitable. Nevertheless, the company will be grounded in March. And therefore the ultimate chapter of Basel’s aviation history will be closed. But just for now?
Violent fight in Steinenvorstadt
A German man was injured in a fight near the Club Soho in Steinenvorstadt on Saturday night.
According to the early investigations of the criminal police of the public prosecution, a passer-by called the police after noticing that several people were involved in a fight at about 1am.
A 35-year-old German man later told police that he was hit in the face when leaving the club, and that others hit and kicked him as he lay on the ground. He was taken to the emergency department at the hospital by the ambulance of Basel-Stadt.
The victim described the perpetrator as being between 25 and 30 years old, with short black hair, and at the time he was wearing denim trousers or jeans and a black jacket. The victim could not give a description of the other people involved.
The reason for the fight remains unclear and is being investigated by the criminal police of the prosecution.