DELAG

DELAG, acronym for Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-<a href="/facts/Aktiengesellschaft/cRpw6rlP">Aktiengesellschaft</a> (German for "German Airship Travel Corporation"), was the <a href="/facts/List_of_airlines_by_foundation/zIqspHH4">world's first airline</a> to use an aircraft in revenue service. It operated a fleet of <a href="/facts/Zeppelin/rGu4K3Tv">zeppelin</a> rigid airships manufactured by the <a href="/facts/Luftschiffbau_Zeppelin/dRfAvaDD">Luftschiffbau Zeppelin</a> Corporation. Its headquarters were located in <a href="/facts/Frankfurt/Pw4Xj9A4">Frankfurt</a>, Germany.
DELAG was founded on 16 November 1909 as a commercial passenger-carrying offshoot of <a href="/facts/Zeppelin_Luftschiffbau/dRfAvaDD">Zeppelin Luftschiffbau</a>. While the notion did not have the support of <a href="/facts/Count/kSkKcsK1">Count</a> <a href="/facts/Ferdinand_von_Zeppelin/MMdIRHvh">Ferdinand von Zeppelin</a>, the inventor of the zeppelin, Alfred Colsman, the business manager of Zeppelin Luftschiffbau, gained both funding and promotion for passenger flights from <a href="/facts/Albert_Ballin/HLQ0lmbE">Albert Ballin</a>, the head of the <a href="/facts/Hamburg_America_Line/29fe4nNh">Hamburg America Line</a>. On 19 June 1910, DELAG's first zeppelin, designated <a href="/facts/List_of_Zeppelins/nBAHk0sj">LZ 7</a> and named Deutschland, performed its first flight. Despite its loss on 28 June 1910, the company launched the improved Deutschland II and the <a href="/facts/LZ_10_Schwaben/HjrmMqxM">LZ 10 Schwaben</a> during the following year. It carried 1,553 paying passengers during its commercial career. By July 1914, one month prior to the start of the <a href="/facts/First_World_War/vITTUanQ">First World War</a>, DELAG's Zeppelins had transported a total of 34,028 passengers on 1,588 commercial flights; over these trips, the fleet had accumulated 172,535 kilometres across 3,176 hours of flight.
The company's zeppelins were requisitioned by the <a href="/facts/German_Army/yPG8nt0E">German Army</a> for military use during the First World War. Shortly after the conflict, DELAG quickly set about relaunching commercial zeppelin operations, however, it was delivered a major setback when two of its airships were surrendered during 1921 as a part of Germany's <a href="/facts/World_War_I_reparations/x68e5n5b">war reparations</a>. During 1925, restrictions imposed on zeppelin construction under the <a href="/facts/Treaty_of_Versailles/BsNmjaqV">Treaty of Versailles</a> were relaxed by the Allies, enabling the development of an advanced zeppelin suitable for intercontinental air passenger service. This airship, the <a href="/facts/LZ_127_Graf_Zeppelin/EzXTNwEq">LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin</a>, was flown for the first time on 18 September 1928. Its introduction enabled DELAG to launch regular, nonstop, <a href="/facts/Transatlantic_flight/g9QekA7u">transatlantic flights</a> several years before airplanes would be capable of sufficient range to cross the ocean in either direction without stopping. The airship also performed numerous record-breaking flights, including a successful <a href="/facts/Circumnavigation/8R6vSgTM">circumnavigation</a> of the globe. 
DELAG's fortunes were badly damaged by the rise of the <a href="/facts/Nazism/JjsMI4lE">Nazis</a> to power in Germany during 1933. During 1935, a rival company, the <a href="/facts/Deutsche_Zeppelin-Reederei/RgrTyXLd">German Zeppelin Transport Company</a> (DZR) was established with state sponsorship, and political interference led to Zeppelin Luftschiffbau being unable to continue operating DELAG.

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DELAG