THE WAR YEARS 1939-1945

The Second World War broke out in autumn 1939. During the war, all civil aviation was placed under military control. After the war, Aero entered into a new era.

On 30 November 1939, the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union began. Due to the uncertain political climate, all civil aviation had already been placed under military control in October. Aero's Dragon Rapides were requisitioned for use by the 4th Supplementary Flying Regiment.

Helsinki soon proved dangerous for civil aircraft and in December 1939 Aero began flights to Stockholm with Ju 52 aircraft from Vaasa on the west coast. The Turku-Stockholm route was also flown on an irregular basis.

Of the 3,900 passengers carried during the war, 1,500 were children evacuated to Sweden. On one flight, an Aero 14-seat Junkers Ju 52/3m carried 42 passengers, of whom 26 were children.}

Interim Peace and the Petsamo Express

After the Winter War, Aero resumed flights to Tallinn on 2 April 1940 and to Stockholm a couple of days later. The company also had long-standing plans to start flights to Petsamo in Northern Finland. This service finally began on 2 June 1940. Known as the "Petsamo Express", it flew passengers from Helsinki to Petsamo via Tampere, Vaasa, Kokkola, Oulu, Kemi, Rovaniemi and Sodankylä in eight and a half hours. In October 1940, Mariehamn was added to the domestic network.

In 1940 Aero also had plans to start a service to Italy, but these were not fulfilled. Aero was suffering from a fleet shortage and the time was not the best possible to acquire aircraft.

Finally, in March 1941, Aero ordered two Douglas DC-2 aircraft, which Lufthansa had acquired in connection with the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The DC-2s were brought to Finland in April, and they went into service in June 1941. The DC-2 was Aero's first commercial aircraft to be equipped with a retractable undercarriage. It had two engines and carried 14 passengers.

Fuel shortages in the Continuation War

The Continuation War, which broke out on 22 June 1941, placed Aero under military control once again. Helsinki and Turku were in the danger zone and the airline temporarily operated from Pori.

During the war, Aero aircraft made a considerable number of transport flights both in Finland and abroad. Despite the war-time conditions, Aero flew to Berlin during 1943 and 1944. Fuel shortages were a problem, but flights to Rovaniemi and Stockholm continued.

Towards a new era

Peace was concluded on 19 September 1944, causing an interruption to Aero's schedule. Malmi Airport came under the control of the Allied Control Commission (ACC) and Aero's war-weary fleet was transferred to Hyvinkää, from where the company started flights to Stockholm in January 1945, both direct and via Turku and Mariehamn.

By order of the ACC, flights were banned on 2 March however,. Aero did not resume operations until 13 August, and even then merely within Finland.

After the war, a major change occurred in Aero's administration, with the departure of Gunnar Ståhle from his post as managing director. Aero's management accepted his resignation in December 1945.

Aero was approaching a new era. It was obvious that as long as it remained a private company it would not manage to make the major acquisitions necessary nor cover the rapidly rising operating costs.