Junkers Ju.52, some European users

 

The Junkers Ju.52/3m is a German cargo and passenger aircraft so successful that it was exported to many countries, among them, the following European ones:

• Austria: The ÖLAG (acronym for Österreichische Luftverkehrs AG - the main Austrian airline between the years 1923 and 1938) ordered a total of 7 Junkers Ju.52/3m between 1935 and 1938 as part of their joint venture with Deutsche Lufthansa (DLH). One aircraft, registered as OE-LAL was lost to an accident on 16th March 1936 and the remaining six machines were taken over by DLH when ÖLAG was bought by Lufthansa on 31st December 1938.
  The Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte (Austrian Air Force) had three Ju.52/3m in service. They formed the core of I. Nachtbomberstaffel (1st Night Bomber Flight) based in Vienna. After the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria into Germany) they were all pressed into the Luftwaffe.
• Belgium: The Belgian Société anonyme Belge d'Exploitation de la Navigation Aérienne (SABENA - Belgian national airline) bought five Junkers Ju.52/3m in the mid 1930s which constituted the backbone of their passenger fleet. One was assigned for operations in the Belgian Congo (as we saw in a previous post).
  They were used in most of their European routes which, using Brussels Haren airport as the main hub, went to Copenhagen, Malmö, Berlin and other European destinations. One of them, registerd as OO-AUB crashed close to the the town of Ostend, at the Belgian coast on 16th November 1937 killing all 12 people on board the airplane, some of which were members of the Hesse royal family. The airplane was on its way to London from Munich when, because of bad weather, it had to be diverted to Steene aerodrome to land. The airplane hit the chimney of a brick factory, crashed and bursted into flames. 
  
• Bulgaria: In 1938, the main Bulgarian airline, Bulgarski Vuzdushni Linii (BVL) acquired two Ju.52/3m, which after the outbreak of the World War 2, they were pressed into service with the Royal Bulgarian Air Force. Those were followed by two more during 1942 and by several captured ones at the end of the conflict (some sources claim that in January 1945 the Royal Bulgarian Air Force had up to 12 Ju.52/3m in inventory). 
  After the War, they were the backbone of the Air Communications Directorate, the forerunner of TABSO, the main Bulgarian Airline of the post-war, and served in various aerial routes until they were gradually replaced by the Russian Lisunov Li-2, with the last Ju.52/3m being replaced in 1950.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Junkers_Ju_52_operators

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabena

3. https://www.flugzeugforum.de/threads/erstes-oesterreichisches-bundesheer.60691/ (translated)

4. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ÖLAG (translated)

5. https://rzjets.net/aircraft/?page=5&typeid=354

6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_Sabena_Junkers_Ju_52_Ostend_crash

7. http://www.airgroup2000.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3314

8. https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Гражданска_авиация_в_България (trnaslated)

9. https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Дирекция_„Въздушни_съобщения“ (translated)

10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkan_Bulgarian_Airlines