Condor Syndikat was a German trade company, with headquarters in Berlin, that operated airline services in Brazil while also providing aircraft, maintenance and aviation information. It is also the parent company of the Brazilian airlines Varig and Syndicato Condor, which later became Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul. They were the two oldest airlines in Brazil.
History
On May 5, 1924, the German airline Deutsche Aero Lloyd established a partnership with the Colombian company Sociedad Colombo-Alemana de Transporte Aéreo – SCADTA to create the Condor Syndikat. SCADTA was interested in establishing international passenger services linking Colombia to other countries in Central America and to the United States. Deutscher Aero Lloyd, on the other hand, wanted to establish a base for a future transatlantic service to South America, while selling aircraft manufactured in Germany, aviation equipment and maintenance services.
With this intention, two Dornier Do J Wal seaplanes were bought and were put into service for SCADTA. Services however were not as successful as planned, particularly because of the resistance of American authorities. The seaplanes were thus returned to Germany. The failure however became a golden opportunity for AeroLloyd to implement its own plans. A few months later two planes, one of them named Atlântico, were sent by ship to Montevideo and flown to Buenos Aires.
On November 17, 1926, a German commercial mission was organized by the Pilot, Engineer and General-Director of Condor Syndikat Fritz W. Hammer, with the presence of Dr. Hans Luther, a former chancellor of the German Reich, at the time of the Weimar Republic took off from Buenos Aires. Though officially an enterprise of Condor Syndikat, in reality it was heavily subsidized by the German Government via Deutsche Luft Hansa. This commercial mission flew first from Buenos Aires to Porto Alegre via Montevideo and then on to Rio de Janeiro, where it arrived on November 27, 1926. On January 1, 1927, the aircraft flew back to Florianópolis with a few illustrious guests aboard. Among them were journalists, a minister, and a cinematographer. As a result of this successful demonstration, on January 26, 1927, Condor Syndikat received a provisory one-year authorization to operate air services in Brazil.
Those services had three different routes: one linked Rio de Janeiro to Porto Alegre via Santos, Paranaguá, São Francisco do Sul, and Florianópolis. The second service linked Porto Alegre to Rio Grande via Pelotas. The third was between Porto Alegre and Santa Vitória do Palmar, on the border with Uruguay. This service could, pending authorization from the Uruguayan authorities, be extended to Montevideo. The first flight between Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre took off one day later, on January 27, 1927, operated by the Dornier Do J Wal Atlântico, still with the German registration D-1012. It arrived in Porto Alegre two days later. Later, the Atlântico would be the aircraft to receive the first Brazilian registration: P-BAAA.
On February 22, 1927, Condor Syndikat operated the first flight between Porto Alegre and Rio Grande in which the Atlântico carried crew, three passengers and mail. Those flights continued to be operated with great success and the German name Condor Syndikat became informally known by its Portuguese translation: Syndicato Condor.
Meanwhile, in Germany, Deutsche Luft Hansa was formed on January 6, 1926, with the forced merger of Deutsche Aero Lloyd with Junkers Luftverkehr to form one German national airline. The transaction included subsidiaries such as Condor Syndikat, which officially ceased to exist on July 1, 1927. In order to care for the ongoing interests of Luft Hansa in Brazil, on December 1, 1927, a Brazilian company was officially formed and named Syndicato Condor.
On June 10, 1927, the Brazilian Government authorized a businessman from Porto Alegre, Otto Ernst Meyer-Labastille, to establish an airline that could operate in the States of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, and to extend the services, with the necessary governmental authorizations, to Uruguay. This airline was named Viação Aérea Rio-Grandense – Varig, which had the support of Condor Syndikat, including share-holding. In order to facilitate start-up operations, Condor Syndikat transferred to Varig its rights for the route Porto Alegre - Rio Grande and the seaplane Atlântico. Flights started on June 22, 1927. Until that date, Condor Syndikat had already made 63 flights and carried 800 passengers and tons of post between the two cities.