Swedish Intercontinental Airlines Explained

Svensk Interkontinental Lufttrafik AB, SILA, trading internationally as Swedish Intercontinental Airlines, was an airline formed in 1943[1] by banker Marcus Wallenberg Jr.[2] [3] An early president of the airline was Per Norlin.[4] In August 1946 with Danish Air Lines and Norwegian Air Lines it became a part of a three-airline consortium[5] (later four, with AB Aerotransport) that would eventually merge on 30 June 1948 with a pooled capitalization of $25 million as Scandinavian Airlines.[6] The airline operated Douglas DC-4[7] and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 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.[8] The airline was also a part of the 1946 introduction of United States airmail service to Copenhagen and Stockholm.[9]

Notes and References

  1. News: October 23, 1947. Sweden Plans a Big Merger of Airlines. Messenger-Inquirer. Associated Press. Owensboro, Kentucky. September 30, 2020.
  2. Book: Millbrooke, Anne. Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Alphabets of Aviation. Xlibris US. 2008. 9781462818433. 556.
  3. Book: Buraas, Anders . Fly over fly: Historien om SAS . Anders Buraas . 1972 . Gyldendal Norsk Forlag . Oslo . 82-05-00891-4 . no.
  4. News: January 5, 1946. Urges Agreement on Ocean Air Rate. Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 30, 2020.
  5. News: August 19, 1946. Scandanavian Air System Is Formed. Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Associated Press. September 30, 2020.
  6. News: February 11, 1948. All Scandinavian Air Lines to Merge. Boston Globe. September 30, 2020.
  7. News: August 29, 1946. International Airlines Now Operating Douglas DC-4 Equipment. San Francisco Examiner. September 30, 2020.
  8. News: January 5, 1946. Asked Passage for Jews: Swedish Air Line Official Discloses Request for Transport. Kansas City Star. Associated Press. September 30, 2020.
  9. News: September 23, 1946. Air Mail Flights to Denmark, Sweden. The News-Messenger. Fremont, Ohio. September 30, 2020.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Swedish Intercontinental Airlines".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.