COVER N. 623 - SLOVAKIA  

Postmark: Trnavá Hora 96611 - 29.07.2025

Posted on the 29th July; Received on the 5th August 2025

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Clearly, the weather interfered at some point along the way.... and somehow it is a fitting tribute, for 100 years ago, the pilots in open cockpit aircraft also had to withstand the rigours of weather and irrespective of rain or shine, what really mattered was to reach one's destination... same as it happened with the cover that Michal so kindly sent me.  Ďakujem, Michal.

The first commercial flight between Prague and Košice, via Bratislava, in what was then Czechoslovakia, took place on the  5th may 1924.

Surely, the feat bears no comparison with today's era of aircraft belching thousands upon thousands or passengers on ever crowded terminals, for the single-engine Aero A.14 biplane (a modified version of the WW1 vintage German Hansa Brandenburg CI) of  CSA-Československé Statni Aerolinie carried but one single passenger  sitting behind the pilot in the open cockpit, cruising at the fantastic maximum speed of 170 km/h.

By way of comparison, in 2023 Košice airport handled a total of 625,053 passengers, with solid growth prospects for this relevant regional hub.

To mark the centenary of  this important milestone in the history of Slovak civil aviation, Slovenská pošta issued on 03MAY2024  the 2,70 € stamp that Michal used on the cover, featuring an illustration of the Aero A.14 flying over a contemporary map of Czechoslovakia, with the flight route superimposed on it.

Incidentally, the photograph on which the aircraft image was based can be found on the internet, on Wikipedia, and I can't resist reproducing it here:

Source: Aero A.14 – Wikipédia

The postmark on the neatly addressed and laid out  envelope was applied at Trnavá Hora, a 1.2 thousand inhabitants town in central Slovakia.