German Nudist Flight Scrapped

The July 5 flight to the popular Baltic Sea resort of Usedom was due to be the first of many and was aimed at East Germans nostalgic for the naturism that was authorised and extremely popular under communist rule.

But OssiUrlaub.de, the firm organising the service to a picturesque Baltic Sea island, said it has had second thoughts after "moral objections" in the media and from visitors to its Internet portal, a spokesman said.

The 50 people with tickets would have boarded the flight in the eastern city of Erfurt fully clothed, but once on the plane would have been free to undress and enjoy the rest of the journey without a stitch on.

They will now receive a full refund as well as a voucher for other products offered by the company, whose core business caters to holidaymakers who keep their clothes on, it stressed.

The travel agency created a stir in the media earlier this year with its plans for the first nudist charter flight to the Baltic Sea.

"In the former East Germany, naturist holidays were a much-loved way of spending the best weeks of the year," the founder of OssiUrlaub.de, Enrico Hess said at the time. "We want to make that freedom possible above the clouds, too."