Aviation in Norway

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Einar Lilloe Gran with a scale model of his aircraft design in 1909. Einar Lilloe-Gran 1909.jpg
Einar Lilloe Gran with a scale model of his aircraft design in 1909.

Aviation has been a part of Norwegian society since the early twentieth century.

Contents

Early attempts

In the early days of Norwegian aviation the Norwegian enthusiasts lacked an engine and were therefore unable to perform real flights. The first engine powered aircraft was ordered during the world's first air show in Reims and came to Kristiania in December 1909. It was purchased by Wilhelm Henie and was a Voisin biplane. The plane was however so damaged by a snowstorm that it would never fly.

In 1910 engineer Einar Lilloe Gran constructed the first motorised aircraft in Norway. It had a wing span of 10 meters and cost 12,000 kr to build. There were made several attempts to make the aircraft airborne, but without any significant results.

Commercial air routes in Scandinavia, and Norway, in 1925 1925 Route Map of Scandinavia and the Baltic States.jpg
Commercial air routes in Scandinavia, and Norway, in 1925

Norwegian aviator Tryggve Gran (1889–1980) became a skilled pilot at Louis Blériot's aviation school in Paris, and on 30 July 1914, became the first pilot in history to cross the North Sea. He took off from Cruden Bay, Scotland, and landed about 4½ hours later at Jæren, Norway, flying a Blériot XI-2 monoplane.

The first confirmed flight was by the Swedish baron Carl Cederström on 14 October 1910. A 23-minute flight over Oslo with a top speed of 52 knots. The first motorized flight was made by Hans Dons in the HNoMS Start on 1 June 1912 from Horten to Øra close to Fredrikstad. Einar Sem-Jacobsen entered the first flight in a military mission at Elverum 1 September 1912 with Ganger Rolf, one of two Farman Longhorn that initiated the Army Air Forces the same year. Ganger Rolf and Njaal were both built in France and based at Kjeller airport - Norway oldest and one of the world oldest aerodromes.

Kjeller airport and Norwegian military airpower celebrated in 2012 100 years of flying in Norway with successful airshows at Kjevik (Kristiansand), Kjeller airport, Sola (Stavanger), Bodø, Andøya and the main impressive event in Oslo 1 September - along with several smaller events.

Organized aviation

The public agency of civil aviation in Norway is Avinor. It was organized as a directorate from 1947, but this was preceded by an office organized under the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, created in 1920. [1]

Widerøe (Widerøe's Flyveselskap) is among the older existing aviation companies in Norway, established in 1934. [2] It had its roots in two smaller companies that were active in the early 1930s. Pioneers during this time include Viggo Widerøe, Halvor Bjørneby, Helge Skappel, Leiv Brun, Ditlef Smith and Erik Engnæs. [3] Both Scandinavian Airlines System [4] and Braathens were established in 1946. [5] Braathens no longer exists, having been merged with SAS as SAS Braathens. A newer, large company is Norwegian Air Shuttle.

Current

The main airport in Norway is Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. It replaced Oslo Airport, Fornebu, which was main airport from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998.

The longest domestic non-stop flight is Scandinavian Airlines' Oslo-Longyearbyen service, well over 2000 kilometres.

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Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 40 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, and 3 Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, serves over 40 domestic and international destinations. Widerøe has a turnover of 3.5 billion kr; carries 2.8 million annual passengers; has 3,500 employees and performs 450 take-offs and landings each day. Public service obligation services to regional airports make up slightly less than half of Widerøe's operations. The remaining services are to primary airports in Northern Norway, and services from Sandefjord Airport, Torp and Bergen Airport, Flesland to other primary airports, and some international services from Oslo/Gardermoen, Sandefjord/Torp, Kristiansand/Kjevik, Stavanger/Sola, Bergen/Flesland and Trondheim/Værnes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stavanger Airport</span> Airport in Rogaland county, Norway

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trondheim Airport</span> International airport serving Trondheim, Norway

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget</span> Airport in Nordlandet, Kristiansund

Kristiansund Airport is an international airport serving Kristiansund, Norway. It is situated at Kvernberget on the island of Nordlandet and is the sole scheduled airport serving Nordmøre. The airport features a 2,390-meter (7,840 ft) runway aligned 07/25. In addition to scheduled services operated by Scandinavian Airlines and Widerøe, it serves offshore helicopter traffic to the Norwegian Sea operated by CHC Helikopter Service. Kvernberget handled 314,084 passengers in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bergen Airport, Flesland</span> International airport serving Bergen, Norway

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oslo Airport, Fornebu</span> 1939-1998 airport in Oslo, Norway.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Svalbard Airport</span> Main airport serving Svalbard, Norway

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkenes Airport</span> Airport in Sør-Varanger, Norway

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bardufoss Airport</span> Airport

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viggo Widerøe</span>

Viggo Widerøe was a Norwegian aviator and entrepreneur. He founded Widerøe's Flyveselskap, Norway's third largest airline, in 1934. The airline is still in operation today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Widerøe</span>

Widerøe, a regional airline based in Norway, was established by Viggo Widerøe, Einar Isdahl and Arild Widerøe on 19 February 1934. The airline started off with a combination of scheduled, aerial photography and general aviation services using seaplanes. It lost its route concessions to Norwegian Air Lines in 1935 and was subsequently bought by that company, for whom it operated several minor routes. World War II hindered Widerøe from operating any flights between 1939 and 1945. After the war Widerøe started flying various seaplane routes that were too small for DNL and its successor, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). These routes were commonly flown using Noorduyn Norseman and de Havilland Canada Otter aircraft. During the 1960s Widerøe attempted operating Douglas DC-3s for charter flights, but soon closed those operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Einar Sem-Jacobsen</span>

Einar Sem-Jacobsen was a Norwegian military officer, engineer and aviation pioneer.

References

  1. Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Avinor". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  2. Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Widerøe's Flyveselskap AS". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  3. Arnesen, Odd (1984). På grønne vinger over Norge (in Norwegian). Widerøe's Flyveselskap.
  4. Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "SAS AB". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  5. Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007). "Braathens ASA". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 17 November 2009.