"Compared to last quarter of 2007, the year 2008 has started with a far higher number of auctions at Ebay which exceeded the barrier of €20", writes our Senior Markets Correspondent Gerd Clemens.

"Winner in this quarter is a bag from the Namibian Charter Flight – Skeleton Coast at a price of €87.40.

Runner up is a bag from the first low cost carrier Laker from UK which is dated with 1976. The extraordinary thing is this bag can also be used to send films for processing which makes this bag very rare. Final bid was made at €79.10.

In course of this quarter a plastic bag from TWA which was offered in their 1st class was on sale very often. At the beginning price came up to €70, but at the end even at prices of €2 could not find a buyer.

On rank #4 we find a very interesting German specimen which is more than just an airsickness bag. It is an airmail letter from 1925 with all the stamps but as envelope an airsickness bag was used. On this bag a small poem is printed and for some of you which want to improve their German here the text:

O, brich die Knospe nicht in ihrem Jugendtraum,
Erbrich von fremdem Brief das Siegel nicht,
Erbrich dich selber nicht in diesem Raum,
Brich in die Tüte, sie ist stark und dicht!

(Unauthorized bagophily.com translation:

Oh, break no blossoms in your youthful gloom
Break open no other's letter - 'tis wrong,
Break not yourself in this room,
But break in the bag, it is tight and strong!)

I guess that this poem would have had good chances to win the poem contest which was organized by Paul some years ago. Finally the auction was won from a member of our group against strong competitors which were philatelists at a price of €62.00.

Now Andemar is an Argentinean first class bus service which operates with the slogan “the best way to know Argentina”. About 15 years ago Andemar operated also as airline which flew over the Andes. Price for this bag came up to €61.64 and as direct sale to €60.30.

Not much to our surprise Republic of China (Taiwan) has a national air force. But a bag from this organisation is very rarely seen. So price went up to €60.65.

Bolivia operates an airline called TAM which stands for Transporte Aereo Militar Boliviano. It was founded in 1946 and operates on domestic flights. Price for this bag was €51 and in a further auction price came up to €23.60, which is rank #37.

A bag from the Israeli an carrier EL AL from the 1970s came in at #9 at a price of €50.93.

TAN Transportes Aereos Neuquen is another Argentinean airline which operates from the region Neuquen. As this is a very unusual air sickness bag price was €50.74.

United Eagles Airlines is a privately owned Chinese airline based in Chengdu, Sichuan. It operates domestic passenger services and was established in 2004. Price of this bag was €50.55.

Another privately owned Chinese airline is East Star Airline which operates from Wuhan, Hubai. They started operation in May 2006. Final bid was made at €47.60.
For a bag with another design €40.50 were paid which is rank #19.

The Korean airline Jeju Air connects Seoul and Busan with the small honeymoon island Jeju. From time to time a bag from this carrier is on sale. This quarter their bag reached rank #13 at a price of €47.23.

And again a bag from Argentina, Andes, an airline which offers regional services as well as charter flights since June 2006. They are based in Salta connecting this city with Buenos Aires. Price for this bag was €46.59.

China Express Airlines was established in May 2006. Based in Guiyang they operate with 2 Bombardiers. The price was €46.55.

Belavia is the national airline of the Republic of Belarus. Main base is Minsk the capitol of Belarus. Price came up to €45.52.

VIM is an Russian airline based in Moscow, which was established in 2000. Later they acquired Chitavia, Aeobratsk and Russian Sky Airlines, which made them very strong in the charter flight business. Just recently they bought 12 Boeing 757. Price for their bag came in at €45.50.

At rank 18 we find a bag from the African carrier Air Malawi at a price of €44.84.

China West Air is a start up airline based in Chongqing. It was established in March 2006 by Hainan Airlines and operates domestic flights. Price was €35.61.

On rank 21 we find Santa Barbara Airlines which is based in Venezuela at a price of €34.78, moreover on the ranks 26 to 29 in direct sales at a price of €32.36 and in an another auction at prices of €25.01 and €23.87.

A bag from Kenya Airways issued mid of the 1970s was bought at €34.55.

Chosonminhang is the former name of the North Korean carrier Air Koryo. The bag came in as #23 at a price of €37.04.

Air Cairo is from Egypt. According to the name this charter and low cost carrier is based in Cairo. Operation started in 1997. In 2005 Egypt Air acquired 40% of their shares and operation was transferred to a new company: Cairo Aviation. Later Air Cairo was re-positioned as a new low cost carrier which belongs to Egypt Air. Price came up to €35.50, which is rank #25 and in another auction at €24.60.

With a bag from 1976 British Midland came in at a price of €32.07 which is rank #30.

A defunct Indian airline is NECP. For a bag from this airline €31.03 was paid.

China Southwest was an airline which had their headquarters in Chengdu, Sichuan. In 2002 China Southwest was merged into Air China. Bag offered was a very nice one as it shows a panda bear carrying the logo. Price for this scarce bag was €30.60.

Next bag comes from Spain. It is an original red TAE bag with a white Hispania sticker. Hispania was founded in 1982 for charter flights from Germany, UK and France to Spain. In July 1989 when liabilities were more than their assets Hispania was forced to chease operation. Price of this special bag came up to €27.47.

A paper bag with a smiley and the words “Have a happy day” was sold at €26.45.

Siem Reap Airways, wholly owned by Bangkok Airways, started operation in Nov 2000. It is based in Phnom Penk Cambodia. A severe fight started for their bags with a totally new design. In the first auction price came up to €26.38, which is rank #35, another auction was finalized at €21.04. But within short when more and more of these bags were offered a strong price erosion took place. Now you get this bag for some euros.

Far Eastern Air Transport is based in the Republic of China. A bag with a new design was sold at €26.38.

An older bag in light green from MAS Malaysian Airlines, offered together with some safety cards was sold at €23.00, which is rank #41.

Oasis Hong Kong is an airline with a very short time of operation. Founded just about 2 years ago they made a lot of noises by offering very low prices for flights between Hong Kong and London. But it seems that calculation was not made carefully enough as they were forced to cease operation because of financial problems on the 9th of April.
One of their last bags with a new design was sold at €22.99.

SAETA means Sociedad Anonima Ecuatorian de Transportes was a privately held airline of Ecuador which began operation in the 1960s. The collapse of Ecuador’s economy in the late 90’s forced the airline to cease operation in 2000. Bags were bought at €22.80.

A plastic bag with pull strings from Royal Nepal Airlines, which is quite unusual was sold at €22.50.

2 bags from Luxair of which one was scarce were sold at €22.00 which was rank #45.

Aigle-Azur which serves France with North Africa is a French airline. Much to my surprise price came up to €21.50 as 2 gentlemen fought very hard for this bag.

Bags from the Brazilian carrier NHT is on sale during the last few quarters. This time prices were €20.87 and €20.50.

On rank #50 we find a Japanese bag from Osaka Airport Transport which is available on busses on this airport. Price came up to €20.71 and another bag in direct sale at €20, which is rank #53, the last bag on this list.

Air Algerie normally is nothing special. But an older bag with a slightly different design was attractive enough to spent €20.50.

A British Airways sick bag from 1976 was #52 at a price of €20.11.

Maybe you can agree that first quarter of 2008 started not too bad. Let us se what the next months will bring. Kind regards from sunny Germany."

- Gerd Clemens