"Old Aunty Ju"

Aviation nostalgics in Austria have had to wait a long time for this: For the first time in four years, the famous vintage plane Ju 52 by Lufthansa is coming back to the alpine republic for the 2014 flying season beginning at the end of April. In the second half of August, the legendary "Old Aunty Ju" will be landing in Wels, Wiener Neustadt, Graz and Salzburg, and be available for several scenic flights in each location.

The passengers of this tri-motored propeller plane, built in 1936 in the Junkers factory in Saxon Dessau, can expect a journey through time lasting some 30 to 60 minutes during which they'll get to experience the fascination of deceleration and can let the beautiful Austrian landscape glide past below them as in slow-motion.

The entire 2014 flight plan for the Ju 52 vintage plane by Lufthansa, including scenic flights in Austria, can be booked online with immediate effect. As the "jumbo jet of the 30s" with its unmistakable, silvery exterior of corrugated sheet iron can only hold up to 16 passengers, many scenic flight dates are already booked out months in advance. The Ju 52 flight tickets are also sought-after as original and unforgettable gifts for birthdays, anniversaries or other special occasions.

The Ju 52 flight dates in Austria are: Wels (18 and 19 August), Wiener Neustadt (20 and 21 August), Graz (22 and 23 August) and Salzburg (24 and 25 August). The four Austrian airports are the only destinations outside of Germany for the 2014 season, which "Old Aunty Ju" is heading for. The tour, which will lead the vintage plane through nearly all German states, begins on 26 April in Emden (Lower Saxony) and ends in Hamburg on 31 October, where it will then take its well-deserved winter break in a Lufthansa hangar.

That's also where the flying old-timer is put through its annual, customised overhaul and put back into top shape for the 2014 flying season. The Ju 52 is flown by experienced Lufthansa pilots, who sometimes switch the modern cockpit of an Airbus or a Boeing Jumbo with the "antique" cockpit of the "Grande dame of the skies", undeniably with much devotion and enthusiasm.

The Ju 52 with the aviation code D-AQUI – "Uniform-India" in pilot lingo – is a plane with a very turbulent history. Not long after having been built in the Dessau Junkers factory and delivered to then Lufthansa [JS1] in 1936, a highly dramatic flight odyssey lasting five decades began for the tri-motored propeller plane, with stops in Norway, the South American jungles of Ecuador and in North America. Discovered at the start of the eighties by Lufthansa employees in severely battered condition at a desert airport in the southwest of the USA, the "lost child" was bought back by the German airline and lovingly restored in 16 months of voluntary manual work by Lufthansa technicians, as well as fitted with better engines and modern electronics in the cockpit.

The scenic flights with the Ju52, lasting 30, 45 or 60 minutes, cost € 199, € 279 and € 372, respectively. The prices for the also available long-distance flights from one airport to the next, depend on the length of the route. Full charter is also possible. Detailed information is available on the website of the German Lufthansa Berlin-foundation on www.lufthansa-ju52.de.

For further information and queries, contact the foundation by phone on+49-40-5070-1717.