Condor Syndikat
| Founded | 1924 |
|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 1927 |
| Hubs | Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre |
| Fleet size | 5 |
| Parent company | Deutscher Aero Lloyd and later Deutsche Luft Hansa |
| Headquarters | Berlin |
| Key people | Fritz W. Hammer |
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 mother 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.
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.
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