The Junkers Ju-52, which has been kept in the air by Lufthansa since 1984,
is finally given a place in a museum. Where exactly is still unknown. The
83-year-old propeller aircraft is currently being stored in a Lufthansa
hangar in Hamburg.
 
The aircraft with the unofficial registration D-AQUI was purchased in the
United States in the 1980s and has been operating pleasure flights since
1986. In the Lufthansa service, the three-engined aircraft made 11,500
flying hours.
 
The total number of flying hours the aircraft has completed is unknown. The
aircraft was built in Dessau in 1936 and was used alternately in Germany
and Norway for the next 20 years. Between 1957 and 1963, the Ju-52 was in
service in Ecuador, ending up in the US in 1969. "Iron Annie" was
an attraction there during air shows.
 
Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin Stiftung kept the Ju-52 in flying condition all
those years, but since Lufthansa turned off the money tap early this year,
the flights had to be stopped.
 
The decision to keep the JU-52 on the ground cannot be seen in isolation
from the accident In August 2018, when a Ju-52 from the Swiss JU-Air
crashed during a pleasure flight over the Alps. Twenty people were killed.
JU-Air wants to continue to fly with Ju-52s.

--- D'Bridge 3.99 SR41