The future is up in the air:
participation in Duesseldorf Airport
The end of the First World War also meant a temporary end to flight services as a result of the Allied Treaties. Yet even in 1919, cautious plans were being forged for air traffic. Gelsenkirchen was specifically earmarked for the development of an airfield. Naturally, this was a signal for Duesseldorf city council and the Rheinbahn to participate in the project by developing the necessary route network.
The end of the Rhineland occupation in August 1925 met with a general sense of relief and satisfaction among the people of Duesseldorf. The recently-built Duesseldorf Airport also celebrated their departure with a "Liberation Flight Day", which took place on 14th and 15th September. This event was planned and organised by the Rheinbahn. On 1st April 1927, the airfield was leased to the Rheinbahn AG at the cost of 13,800 Reichsmarks per year.
It was then necessary to establish an airport operating company and, initially, the Duisburg city council and the Ministry of Transport were involved. However, their differences of opinion resulted in the Duesseldorf city council and the Rheinbahn AG founding the airport operating company at a ratio of 3:1 on 7th September 1927.
One year previously, in 1926, German air traffic development took another important step forward with the assistance of the Rheinbahn and its General Director, Max Schwab. The competing companies, Aero-Hansa AG and Junkers Luftverkehr AG, gave way to pressure from the central government and merged. The chairman of the merger committee was Max Schwab, and Deutsche Lufthansa AG was founded on 6th January 1926 after complex negotiations. It commenced services on 6th April 1926.
Duesseldorf Airport developed extremely positively. This was predominantly due to sustained advertising measures, well-structured flight schedules and ticket rates, as well as efficient commuter services by bus and the Duesseldorf-Duisburg local railway. This advantageous situation was facilitated by the fact that both the commuter services and the airport operating company were in the hands of the Rheinbahn.
The Rheinbahn AG ’s participation in Duesseldorf’s air traffic ended in 1937, when the Rheinbahn was "broken up" and all business divisions that were not essential for local public transport were spun off. The airport operating company passed to the city council.