[2] A contemporary account identifies the P.III as Germany's first aircraft purposefully-designed as a commercial passenger plane.

[1][3] It was a high-wing, strut-braced monoplane of conventional design powered by a single engine in the nose (either a 200-hp Benz, or a 260-hp Maybach).

[3] Passengers entered the cabin through a door directly from the ground, rather than having to climb over the side of the aircraft, or up a ladder.

[3] The wings and horizontal stabiliser folded for storage or rail transport, and indeed, P.IIIs carried their own tent as a portable hangar.

[1][3] This aircraft was one of the few approved as a civilian, not military type by the ILÜK (Interallierte Luftfahrt-Überwachungs-Kommission, Inter-allied Aviation Control Commission) for production in Germany after World War I.