Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul
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| Founded | 1927 as Syndicato Condor | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 1928 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 1993 | ||||||
| Parent company | Varig | ||||||
| Headquarters | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | ||||||
| Key people | Fritz W. Hammer (1927-1930) Paul Moosmeyer (1930-1942) José Bento Ribeiro Dantas (1942-1969) Leopoldino Cardoso de Amorim Filho (1969- |
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Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul was the second oldest airline of Brazil, tracing its origins to 1927, when it was founded as Syndicato Condor, a subsidiary of Deutsche Luft Hansa. Syndicato Condor retained rights and interests of a former German trade company, Condor Syndikat, which previously operated passenger and mail services in Brazil. It was renamed Cruzeiro do Sul in 1943. In 1975, Varig, a Brazilian airline which shared very similar origins, acquired its controlling shares. In 1993, it was finally merged into Varig.
The first phase in the history of Cruzeiro do Sul is related to the German influence and can be dated from 1927 until 1943. During this time the airline was called Syndicato Condor, then Sindicato Condor and finally Serviços Aéreos Condor. Condor was founded in Rio de Janeiro, on 1 December 1927, by the three former German directors of Condor Syndikat, including Fritz W. Hammer, and the Brazilian Count Pereira Carneiro, owner of Jornal do Brasil and a shipping company. Syndicato Condor is considered to be the heir of Condor Syndikat, a German trade company that operated air services within Brazil and from which it inherited equipment, concessions, rights and particular interests. From the start it had a strong German influence, operating German aircraft and supporting the interests of Deutsche Luft Hansa in South America. The Brazilian government recognized it as an airline on 20 January 1928, granting rights to operate in the whole Brazilian territory and to extend services to Uruguay and Argentina. Those services were of utmost importance for the future plans of the mother-company Deutsche Luft Hansa in South America. In fact, between 1 June 1927, when Condor Syndikat ceased to exist, and the foundation of Syndicato Condor, services were never interrupted.
Seaplane services from Rio de Janeiro to Porto Alegre with intermediate stops that had been operating on an informal basis became official began almost immediately. It consisted of a twice-weekly flight, operated with a seaplane Junkers G-24 and took two days with an overnight stop. On 14 April 1934, the route was extended to include Montevideo and Buenos Aires and on 28 September 1935, it reached Mendoza and Santiago de Chile. Those services were eventually upgraded to the modern Junkers Ju 52 and later the sophisticated Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor aircraft.
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