‘Tante Ju’ becomes a museum exhibit

Since the summer of 2022 one of the remaining Swiss Junkers Ju-52 transports, HB-HOS was grounded and even cancelled from the civil register. Until recently there were still hopes that the iconic former Swiss Air Force machine (in which it served as A-701) was to be returned to flying condition, but alas, it has been sold to an aviation museum.

On 20 April 2023, the trimotor airliner was placed on a low loading truck and transported to the Deutsche Luftfahrtmuseum in Wernigerode. And so 'Tante Ju' or 'Aunty Ju', as the type was affectionately known will and up as a static museum exhibit.

In recent years the number of historic airliners that is used for passenger flights has drastically gone down. The rising costs of operating a multi-engine airliner are increasingly difficult to cover. But it is not only the expensive maintenance, shortage of spare parts, lack of licensed crewmembers and engineers, and immense increases in insurance fares.

Aviation authorities (especially in Europe) have also tightened their rules to operate a historic passenger aircraft. In Switzerland the Authority BAZL has introduced the ‘Six-passenger Rule’, which indicates the maximum number of passenger to be taken onboard. This rule has made it impossible to economically fly a plane like the Ju-52. It meant the grounding of HB-HOS and lead to its sale as a museum exhibit.

Photo: Gert Jan Mentink