The first commercial flight in Europe

On March 22nd, 105 years have passed since the flight considered to be the first commercial international flight with passengers in Europe. On that day in 1919, the F.60 Goliath aircraft operated a flight between Paris and Brussels. It belonged to the French airline Lignes Aériennes Farman, founded a month earlier by the legendary aviation pioneers Henri and Maurice Farman, along with their lesser-known older brother Dick.

Shortly thereafter, Farman Airlines' aircraft began to operate regular passenger flights on this and other routes, including from Paris to Copenhagen, London, Berlin, and to French colonies in North Africa. In the early 1920s, the airline was renamed Société Générale des Transports Aériens (SGTA). Its fleet consisted exclusively of aircraft manufactured by the Farman brothers' company. The largest among them was the F.60, capable of carrying up to 14 passengers. Additionally, the F.70, F.121, and F.170 were operated, designed to carry from four to nine people.

SGTA grew rapidly, opening new airlines to Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Cologne, Leipzig, and Antwerp. However, by the late 1920s, the company's fortunes declined significantly due to the global economic crisis. In May 1933, SGTA ceased to exist after merging with five other French carriers into the new airline Air France, which continues to operate successfully to this day.