Braathens ASA, until 1997 Braathens South American & Far East Airtransport A/S and trading as Braathens SAFE, was a Norwegian airline which operated from 1946 until it merged with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) in 2004 to become SAS Braathens. For most of its history, Braathens was the largest domestic airline in Norway, but did not operate an international network for many years. Its main hubs were Oslo Airport, Fornebu and later Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and briefly Stockholm-Arlanda Airport. The airline operated 118 aircraft of 15 models, mostly Boeing 737 variants. Braathens served 53 airports and 50 cities with scheduled services through its history.
Scandinavian Airlines is the flag carrier airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Short for Scandinavian Airlines System and legally referred to as Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark-Norway-Sweden, SAS is part of SAS Group and is headquartered in Solna, Sweden.
Bergen Airport, alternatively Bergen Flesland Airport or simply Flesland Airport, is an international airport located at Flesland in the city and municipality of Bergen, Vestland, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport in Norway, with 6,306,623 passenger operations in 2018. Flesland is operated by the state-owned Avinor. Until 1999, Flesland Air Station of the Norwegian Air Force was co-located at the airport.
SAS AB, trading as SAS Group, is a Swedish airline holding company headquartered in Solna Municipality, Sweden. It is the owner of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines, SAS Link, and SAS Connect.
Busy Bee was an airline which operated in Norway between 1966 and 1992. Entirely based around wet lease, it conducted a mix of regional services for larger airlines and the military, as well as corporate, ad hoc and inclusive tour charters.
Braathens Regional Airways AB is a Swedish airline that operates ACMI services for its sister company, Braathens Regional Airlines. It flies to various domestic destinations within Sweden and also provides ad hoc charter services. The airline is headquartered at Stockholm Bromma Airport and was previously known as Golden Air and Braathens Regional.
Malmö Aviation, later known as Braathens Regional Aviation, was a Swedish airline based in Malmö. From 2016 it provided wet-leasing services in partnership with its sister airline Braathens Regional Airways for Braathens Regional Airlines.
SAS Braathens was the name of Norway's largest airline, created by a merger between Scandinavian Airlines' Norwegian division and Braathens in 2004. On 1 June 2007, the airline was integrated into mainline SAS, and changed its name to SAS Scandinavian Airlines Norge. The airline operated from its hub at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and was also the largest national branch of Scandinavian Airlines. SAS Braathens had its head office in Diamanten on the grounds of the now-closed Fornebu Airport in Fornebu, Bærum, Norway.
Oslo Airport, Fornebu(IATA: FBU, ICAO: ENFB) was the primary international airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and the area has since been redeveloped. The airport was located at Fornebu in Bærum, 8 km (5.0 mi) from the city center. Fornebu had two runways, one 2,370 m (7,780 ft) 06/24 and one 1,800 m (5,900 ft) 01/19, and a capacity of 20 aircraft. In 1996, the airport had 170,823 aircraft movements and 10,072,054 passengers. The airport served as a hub for Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), Braathens SAFE and Widerøe. In 1996, they and 21 other airlines served 28 international destinations. Due to limited terminal and runway capacity, intercontinental and charter airlines used Gardermoen. The Royal Norwegian Air Force retained offices at Fornebu.
Color Air AS was the first Norwegian low-cost airline. It operated from Oslo Airport, Gardermoen in 1998 and 1999 with a fleet of three Boeing 737-300 aircraft. Color Air was a brand extension of Color Line, which shared a common owner in the Olav Nils Sunde-controlled Color Group. The airline operated five daily round trips from Oslo to Trondheim and Bergen, four to Ålesund and one to London, in addition to a weekly trip to Alicante. Color Air pioneered the low-cost business model in Norway, with a denser seating, no frills and lack of a frequent flyer program. Tickets were sold only via the Internet, by telephone or in supermarkets; when bought from travel agents, there was a 200 kr surcharge.
Norsk Air was a Norwegian airline based at Sandefjord Airport, Torp. At its height from the mid-1980s and onwards it operated scheduled flights to Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Copenhagen, and for shorter periods also other Norwegian and international destinations. The airline had 156 employees and 150,000 annual passengers in 1989. The company was established as a sole proprietorship by Øyvind Skaunfelt as Vestfoldfly in 1961, after purchasing Thor Solberg's aviation school at Tønsberg Airport, Jarlsberg. In addition to an aviation college, the company operated various charter services using mostly Cessna aircraft. The company split into a flying school and an airline in 1972, with the latter taking the name Norsk Flytjeneste. Three 50-passenger Douglas DC-6 were subsequently bought and were among other places flown with aid charters to Bangladesh. Both the DC-6 and later charter flights with business jets proved unprofitable and were quickly terminated.
Transwede Airways AB, was a Swedish charter and later also scheduled airline operating between 1985 and 1998. Based at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Transwede initially flew Sud Aviation Caravelles, and from 1987 also McDonnell Douglas MD-80s. Most charter services were operated for package tour companies to the Mediterranean.
Norway Airlines A/S was a Norwegian airline which operated between 1988 and 1992. Focusing on charter, the airline operated two Boeing 737-300 aircraft from 1988 to 1992, after which it operated two McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft, one MD-83 and one MD-87. The airline flew a single scheduled route, between Oslo Airport, Fornebu and London Gatwick Airport, at first on contract with Air Europe and from 1991 at its own expense. At its peak, Norway Airlines had 196 employees. The company struggled financially and lost more than 100 million Norwegian krone (NOK) before terminating operations, having never made a profit.
Det Norske Luftfartselskap A/S or DNL, trading internationally as Norwegian Air Lines, was an airline and flag carrier of Norway. Founded in 1927, it operated domestic and international routes from 1935 to 1941 and from 1946 to 1951. It became one of the three founders of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and became one of its three holding companies from 1951, with a 28% stake and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. DNL was renamed SAS Norge ASA in 1996 and was merged in 2001 to create the SAS Group.
Braathens Helikopter A/S was a Norwegian helicopter airline based at Stavanger Airport and Bergen Airport. It used a fleet of seven Aérospatiale Super Pumas to serve offshore oil platforms in the North Sea. The customers were Amoco, BP, Norsk Hydro, Phillips Petroleum and Statoil, serving their oil fields Ekofisk, Oseberg, Gullfaks, Veslefrikk, Valhall, Ula and Gyda. Braathens Helikopter operated from 1989 to 1993, after which it was sold to and merged with the main competitor, Helikopter Service. Braathens Helikopter was owned by Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi and was a sister company of the airline Braathens SAFE.
Braathens South American & Far East Airtransport A/S or Braathens SAFE was founded by ship-owner Ludvig G. Braathen in 1946. It started as a charter airline based at Oslo Airport, Fornebu in Norway, flying to destinations in the Far East and in South America. At first the airline used Douglas DC-4s, and later also Douglas DC-3s. In 1948, the airline moved to Oslo Airport, Fornebu and started regular scheduled flights to the Far East. In 1952, the airline started cooperation with the Icelandic airline Loftleidir, where until 1960 the two airlines in cooperation flew flights to Reykjavík. Domestic services started in 1951, using de Havilland Herons on a route from Oslo to Stavanger via Tønsberg. Braathens SAFE also established at Stavanger Airport, Sola. A second route was started two years later to Trondheim. The Heron routes also stopped in Farsund, Kristiansand, Notodden to Stavanger and Hamar, Røros to Trondheim.
Braathens SAFE's domestic market was deregulated on 1 April 1994. Since then, any airline within the European Economic Area is free to operate any domestic or international route. Braathens rejected a proposal from the main competitor Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) for a merger; instead the helicopter division was sold and the company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. New routes were opened from Oslo Airport, Fornebu to Bodø, Harstad/Narvik and Tromsø, but the routes from Bergen to these cities were terminated. International routes to Rome, Nice and Jersey were introduced. In 1996, Braathens SAFE bought Sweden's second-largest airline, Transwede, and started flying on the Oslo–Stockholm route. The following year, Transwede, with its five domestic routes, was merged into Braathens SAFE. The same year, KLM bought 30% of Braathens SAFE and the airlines started a partnership.
BRA Sverige AB, trading as Braathens Regional Airlines, often shortended to BRA(Swedish for "Good"), is a Swedish virtual airline headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with its main operational base at Stockholm Bromma Airport.
