On 12 November 2012 celebrates 90 years since the first transcontinental airline in history: Paris - Strasbourg - Prague - Warsaw - Vienna - Budapest - Belgrade - Bucharest (Băneasa) - Istanbul, made by Franco-Romanian Air Navigation Company.
At the end of the First World War, during the negotiations prior to the signing of the Trianon Treaty (1920), the idea of setting up an air route between Paris and Bucharest was suggested by the great Romanian diplomat, Nicolae Titulescu, his French counterpart, General Maurice Duval. Following this idea, come into being on 23 April 1920 Franco-Romanian Air Navigation Company, the world's first transcontinental air transport company for passengers, freight and mail.
The initiative belonged to Count Pierre Claret de Fleurieu and his friend, the Romanian banker Aristide Blank. The company employed World War I aces, the aircraft used being manufactured by the French company Potez.
Symbol of Franco-Romanian cooperation in the field of aviation, Franco-Romanian Air Navigation Company inaugurated on November 12, 1922 the first transcontinental passenger air route Paris - Strasbourg - Prague - Warsaw - Vienna - Budapest - Belgrade - Bucharest (Băneasa) - Istanbul. Another aviation premiere of this company was the first regular international passenger flight, on time per night (10 September 1923).
The tradition of the Franco-Romanian Air Navigation Company, transformed into 1925 into the International Air Navigation Company, is continued today by Air France and TAROM, partners and partners today in the SkyTeam Alliance.
Update: The route Paris - Constantinople via Bucharest had 3144 Km with stops. A flight from Paris to Bucharest at that time lasted 24 hours. Between 1921 and 1922, the Franco-Romanian Air Navigation Company carried 2140 passengers, 60 tons of cargo and 3 tons of mail.
The first night flight was made on September 10, 1924, on the route Belgrade - Bucharest (Băneasa), also by the Franco-Romanian Air Navigation Company.