Today we chat with the author of Interflug – East Germany’s airline, Sebastian Schmitz. This is the first book published in English about Interflug. Don’t worry though, you do not need to be an aviation nerd to enjoy this one!

In this episode, we ask Sebastian your questions as we learn more about Interflug, her history, her planes, her employees and her passengers on the East Germany Podcast.
And Much More

Communist East Germany’s Interflug was an airline like no other. Their route map was flown by exotic Soviet-built airliners and shaped by political alliances, with trips into war zones in some of the most obscure corners of the planet, all under the constant surveillance of an ever-present police state.

This book, the first on Interflug in the English language, tell the fascinating story of this unusual airline, its mission, its fleet, and what it was like to fly it, to work there, and live in those times.

About Sebastian Schmitz

Born on July 4, 1978, Sebastian was raised in Essen, Germany, and has taken a keen interest in aviation since early childhood, perhaps because of the proximity of his boyhood home to the flightpath into Dusseldorf. He has always loved to travel and, in the absence of a better idea, became a flight attendant. 20 years later, he has become a widely known writer, covering aviation and travel for a wide range of magazines in both English and German, and with his name gracing the spines of three books. Today, when not travelling the world, Sebastian resides in the small town of Siegburg, close to Cologne.

Check out the first in the Why We Are Fascinated by East Germany with Steve Minegar.