Development of the BV 144 commenced at the behest of the German flag carrier Deutsche Luft Hansa during the early years of the Second World War; from the onset, it was intended to be a civil airliner for use during the postwar era as a successor to the Junkers Ju 52.

[1] During 1940, by which point the Second World War was already being waged in Europe, the German flag carrier Deutsche Luft Hansa approached the aircraft manufacturer Blohm & Voss with a request for it to design and produced a new twin-engined airliner.

[2] This new airliner was intended to be relatively advanced, capable of seating up to 18 passengers in spacious accommodation, and function as a suitable successor to the ubiquitous Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft.

From the onset, it was envisioned that the prospective aircraft would be able to introduced by Deutsche Luft Hansa shortly after the conflict would come to an end; at that point in time, the war was going in Germany's favour and planning for post-war services was considered to be reasonable.

[2] However, Blohm & Voss lacked any production capacity to pursue peacetime projects; it was Ernst Udet of the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM/German Aviation Ministry) who suggested that the BV 144 could be built by the French aircraft manufacterer Breguet, based in Bordeaux, who had no work following the Fall of France to Germany in June 1940.

[1][2] Accordingly, the wing's angle of attack could be altered when flying at low speeds (such as on approach to landing) without impacting the attitude of the fuselage or negatively affecting airflow over the aircraft's twin-fin tail unit.

The adoption of a de-icing system (using heated air fed from an onboard oil burner) in the leading edges of both the wing and tail unit was another novel feature for the era.