100 years of The Hungarian airline Magyar Légiforgalmi Részvénytársaság

100 years of The Hungarian airline Magyar Légiforgalmi Részvénytársaság

Magyar Posta is issuing a special stamp to mark the centenary of the foundation of the Hungarian airline Magyar Légiforgalmi Részvénytársaság. Forty thousand copies of the stamp designed by the graphic artist György Kara were produced by ANY Security Printing Company.  On 19 November 1922, the Hungarian airline Magyar Légiforgalmi Rt. (ML Rt., later MALERT) was founded. As the main rival of the German-backed Aeroexpress Rt., its Fokker F-III aircraft, capable of carrying five passengers, connected Budapest with Vienna and Belgrade. As a result of developments in 1937/38, the aircraft were adapted to carry 24 passengers. In 1939, MALERT connected Budaörs with Venice, Rome, Milan, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Zurich, Berlin, Krakow and Warsaw with daily flights, and with Belgrade, Arad and Bucharest every other day.

In the later years, the company operated flights to Košice, Uzhhorod, Oradea, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureș, Odorheiu Secuiesc, Sfântu Gheorghe, Târgu Secuiesc and Miercurea Ciuc, towns that were once part of historic Hungary. During the Second World War, aviation lost the most in terms of transport, as regards personnel, aircraft and ground facilities. The entire fleet of civil aeroplanes was destroyed. Three months after the establishment of the Hungarian-Soviet Civil Aviation Company (MASZOVLET), MALERT was dissolved on 30 July 1946. The main motif of the stamp is ML Rt.’s Fokker F.III passenger aircraft from Mátyásföld, Budapest. In the lower part of the stamp is a detail of a former advertisement for the Budapest-Vienna route. The special first day cover shows some ML Rt. Fokker F.III passenger aircraft and the company logo. The company logo is used again in the design of the special postmark.