Kato Airline

Last updated
Kato Air
Kato Airline Logo.png
IATA ICAO Callsign
6SKATKato-Air
Founded16 February 1995 (1995-02-16)
Ceased operations1 September 2008 (2008-09-01)
Operating bases
Fleet size4 (2008)
Destinations2 (2008)
Headquarters Evenes
Key peopleKarl Johan Karlsen (owner, chair)
Torlaug Karlsen (owner, CEO)
Website http://www.katoair.no

Kato Airline AS, trading as Kato Air, was an airline which operated in Northern Norway between 1995 and 2008. Although also operating some smaller aircraft, the main portion of the airline's fleet were two Dornier 228. The airline was based at the grounds of Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes in Evenes.

Contents

Commercial operations began in 1996. An early contract was to deliver newspapers out of Harstad. During 1999 the airline took delivery of two Dornier 228s and started a scheduled service from Harstad/Narvik to Bodø and Tromsø. The route was not viable and closed later that year. In the process Kato Air took over the fixed-wing operations of Helitrans and set up a base at Trondheim Airport, Værnes. Instead the airline focused on charter to oil companies, particularly flying charters from Trondheim to Brønnøysund.

The airline won the public service obligations from Bodø to Røst and to Narvik Airport, Framnes in 2003. Later the year they also won a major contract with Norway Post. The airline suffered two serious incidents. A Dornier 228 crashed and was written off after a lightning strike on 4 December 2003. A scheduled service was hijacked on 29 September 2004. The Brønnøysund, Framnes and newspaper routes were all lost in 2006, after which the company fell into financial difficulties. The maintenance certificate was withdrawn on 28 August 2008 and the airline ceased operations on 1 September.

History

Kato Air was incorporated on 16 February 1995. However, not until 21 February 1996 did it receive an air operator's certificate for general aviation. In the intermediate period the airline cooperated with another airline. The airline established a base at Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes, as the first airline to be based at the airport. [1] The company was founded and owned by Karl Johan Karlsen, acting as chairman, and his wife Torlaug Karlsen, the managing director. [2] "Kato" is derived from the first two letters from their respective first names. [3] The fleet started off with a Piper PA-31 Chieftain [4] and a Cessna 172 in 1995. [5] The following year the airline bought a Maule M-5 [6] and a Cessna 208 was procured in 1997. [7]

By 1997, 15 million Norwegian krone had been invested in the airline. Its first permanent contract was with Verdens Gang to distribute printed newspaper from the press in Harstad to Bodø and Troms]. [8] Later the arrangement was extended to also include the distribution of Dagbladet . The company had a revenue of 6.3 million Norwegian krone in 1997, making a profit of one million. The company sourced seventy percent of its revenue from the newspaper contracts. The main ad hoc charter contractors were the Norwegian Geological Survey and the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. [2] A Piper PA-34 Seneca was added to the fleet in 1998. [7]

Kato Air Dornier 228 at Trondheim Airport, Vaernes in 2002 Kato Air Do-228 LN-HTA.jpg
Kato Air Dornier 228 at Trondheim Airport, Værnes in 2002

Kato Air announced plans in October 1998 to establish a scheduled route from Harstad/Narvik to Bodø and Tromsø. The background was that Widerøe was no longer flying this route. Kato Air cooperated with the Stjørdal-based airline Helitrans, who had a surplus of Dornier 228. [9] One of these was taken over by Kato Air, who christened it Bjørnfjell; the other was leased. They had 16 and 19 seats, respectively. The route commenced on 7 December 1998. Each leg had a morning and afternoon round trip on weekdays, as well as an evening flight on Sundays. Kato Air bought ground services from Scandinavian Airlines at Harstad/Narvik and from Widerøe in Bodø and Tromsø. [10] The arrangement ultimately resulted in Kato Air taking over the entire fixed-wing division of Helitrans, who remained with only helicopter operations. [11] Patronage on the route was too low to keep the route running, and it was terminated in November 1999. A contributing factor was an imported fast ferry service to Tromsø. [12]

The Dorniers were subsequently mostly used for charters with oil companies, with Statoil being a dominant customer. [13] Of particular importance was a charter route with the oil company from Trondheim Airport, Værnes to Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy. [14] For a period starting in February 2002 the airline also flew a charter route from Trondheim to Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget. [15]

Starting 1 April 2003 Kato Airline took over two public service obligation routes, which received subsidies from the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Both were out of Bodø, one to Røst Airport and the other to Narvik Airport, Framnes—the downtown airport serving Narvik. [13] The same year the airline won four-year contract with Norway Post to operate postal flights from Trondheim to Bodø, Harstad/Narvik and Tromsø. [3] Kato Airline was allowed to operate the route with a Dornier 228, a significantly smaller aircraft than the incumbent de Havilland Canada Dash 8 used by Widerøe. By December both routes had seen a drastic fall in patronage. Røst Municipal Council came with a statement criticizing the ministry for allowing such aircraft, stating that the lacked among other amenities accessibility, pressure cabin, weather radar, space for hand luggage and that the airline did not operate with discount tickets. [16] The company's revenue peaked at 61 million kroner in 2003. [17]

After failing to make a profit on the Narvik route, Kato Air announced in late 2004 that it would terminate operations on the route from 8 March 2005. [18] No companies bid to fly the route, and so the ministry entered negotiations with Kato Airline to continue operations. This resulted in the fee for the remaining thirteen months increasing from 8 million to 18.2 million kroner. [19] By 2006 the patronage at Narvik Airport, Framnes had halved in the three years the route was operated by Kato Airline. [20]

During late 2005 Kato Air lost three important contracts, both the newspaper flights, the Statoil flights and the Narvik contract. [14] However, they won a new three-year contract to operate the route to Røst, running from 1 April 2006 through 31 March 2009. [21] The loss of business ultimately led to a loss of 10 million kroner in 2007 and put the company under severe financial pressure. This led the company to increase its ad hoc business, which included winning the contract for the organization of the 2007 Dakar Rally. [17] The airline made several bids to win more routes. They applied in 2006 for both PSO contracts in Finnmark, but failed to match the bid from Widerøe. [22]

Following an inspection, the Civil Aviation Authority of Norway withdrew Kato Air Service's aircraft maintenance certificate on 28 August 2008. They citied several severe breaches of regulation and routines. Subsequently, the board decided on 1 September to liquidate the company. [23]

Destinations

The following is a list of scheduled destinations served by Kato Airline.

Kato Airline destinations
LocationAirportStartEndRef(s)
Bodø Bodø Airport 1999*2008 [10] [12] [13]
Harstad/Narvik Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes 19991999 [10] [12]
Narvik Narvik Airport, Framnes 20032008 [13] [14]
Røst Røst Airport 20032008 [13]
Tromsø Tromsø Airport 19991999 [10] [12]

Incidents and accidents

Related Research Articles

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.

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">Trondheim Airport</span> International airport serving Trondheim, Norway

Trondheim Airport is an international airport serving Trondheim, a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is located in Værnes, a village in the municipality of Stjørdal in Trøndelag county, 10 nautical miles east of Trondheim. Operated by the state-owned Avinor, it shares facilities with Værnes Air Station of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. In 2018, the airport had 4,441,870 passengers and 58,273 air movements, making it the fourth-busiest in the country. The airport has two terminals; A dates from 1994 and is used for domestic traffic, while B is the renovated former main terminal from 1982, and is used for international traffic. The airport features a main east–west 2,999-metre (9,839 ft) runway, a disused northwest–southeast 1,472-metre (4,829 ft) runway, an integrated railway station and an airport hotel.

Andøya Airport is a domestic airport located in the village of Andenes in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is situated on the northern tip of the island of Andøya. The airport is the civilian sector of Andøya Air Station and is operated by the state-owned Avinor. The airport consists of two runways, 2,468 and 1,672 meters long, and served 48,254 passengers in 2012. Widerøe operates public service obligation (PSO) flights to Bodø, Tromsø, Stokmarknes and Harstad/Narvik, while Norwegian Air Shuttle operates seasonal flights to Oslo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes</span> International airport in Nordland, Norway

Harstad/Narvik Airport is an international airport located in Evenes Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The airport serves the towns of Harstad and Narvik. It is co-located with Evenes Air Station of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. The civilian sector is owned and operated by the state-owned Avinor and handled 654,977 passengers in 2013. Evenes has a 2,808-meter (9,213 ft) runway, a parallel taxiway and a terminal with five gates. The airlines with daily scheduled services are Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Widerøe. Destinations with daily services are Oslo, Trondheim, Bodø, Tromsø and Andenes. Evenes is the only primary airport in Central Hålogaland and its catchment area for Oslo-bound flights includes Lofoten and Vesterålen.

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

Bodø Airport is a civil airport in the town of Bodø in Bodø Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Located just south of the city centre, on the westernmost tip of the Bodø peninsula, it shares facilities with the military air force base Bodø Main Air Station. The airport has a single concrete, 2,794 by 45 metres runway which runs in a roughly east–west direction. In addition to jet operations to major domestic destinations, the airport serves as a hub for regional airline flights to Helgeland, Lofoten and Vesterålen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narvik Airport, Framnes</span> Airport in Framnes

Narvik Airport, Framnes is a former public regional airport closed down in 2017 in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It was located at Framnes in the town of Narvik, along the Ofotfjorden. It was operated by the state-owned Avinor and consisted of a 965-meter (3,166 ft) runway aligned 01–19.

SAS Commuter, also branded as Scandinavian Commuter, was a regional airline which operated in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. A sister company of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), it operated various regional services on behalf of the Scandinavian flag carrier. The airline was headquartered at Copenhagen Airport, which also served as its main base. It later also operated bases at Tromsø Airport; Stockholm Arlanda Airport; Trondheim Airport, Værnes and Bergen Airport, Flesland.

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

Lufttransport is a Norwegian helicopter and fixed-wing airline that operates primarily air ambulance helicopters and planes for the Norwegian and Swedish governments. In addition the airline offers services including surveillance for the Norwegian Coast Guard, transport of ship pilots and scheduled air transport in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard.

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

Bardufoss Airport is a primary airport situated at Bardufoss in Målselv Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The airport, which is the civilian sector of the Royal Norwegian Air Force's (RNoAF) Bardufoss Air Station, is operated by the state-owned Avinor. It consists of a 2,443-meter (8,015 ft) runway, a parallel taxiway and handled 218,451 passengers in 2014. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) operates three daily flights with Boeing 737s to Oslo. The airport's catchment area covers central Troms.

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

Røst Airport is a regional airport serving Røst Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The airport is located on the northern edge of the main island of Røstlandet, just north of the main village of Røstlandet. It is owned and operated by the state-owned Avinor, and the tower is remotely controlled from Bodø.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brønnøysund Airport</span> Airport in Bronnoysund, Norway

Brønnøysund Airport is a regional airport located at the town of Brønnøysund, in the municipality of Brønnøy, Nordland county, Norway. The airport is owned and operated by the state-owned Avinor and serves the southern part of Helgeland. It has a 1,200-by-30-meter runway numbered 03–21 and is served by Widerøe, which operates their Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft to Oslo, Trondheim, Bodø, Bergen and other airports in Helgeland. The airport also serves offshore helicopter flights by CHC Helikopter Service to Norne and temporary oil rigs in the Norwegian Sea. In 2014, the airport served 117,471 passengers, making it the second-busiest regional airport in Norway, after Florø Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandnessjøen Airport</span> Airport in Stokka, Alstahaug

Sandnessjøen Airport is a regional airport serving the town of Sandnessjøen, Norway. The airport is located in the municipality of Alstahaug in Nordland county, 5.5 nautical miles south west of Sandnessjøen. In 2014, Sandnessjøen Airport served 74,138 passengers. It is operated by Avinor.

Helitrans is a Norwegian helicopter and maintenance company based at Trondheim Airport, Værnes established in 1990. The airline also has bases in Lillestrøm Kjeller Airport, Ås (kommune), Mo i Rana Airport, Røssvoll, Narvik, Langnes Airport, Alta Airport, Stavanger Airport, Ljosland and Sauda in Norway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred. Olsen Airtransport</span>

A/S Fred. Olsens Flyselskap (FOF), trading internationally as Fred. Olsen Airtransport, was a Norwegian charter airline which operated between 1946 and 1997, largely operating cargo aircraft. Based at Oslo Airport, Fornebu, it was created as a spin-off of Norwegian Air Lines and was part of Fred. Olsen & Co., which owned it through its subsidiaries Ganger Rolf and Bonheur.

GuardAir AS was a Norwegian airline which operated between 1992 and 2001. Based at Sandefjord Airport, Torp, it operated four Dornier 228s and served eight scheduled destinations in 2001.

<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.

Agderfly AS was a flight school and airline based in Kristiansand, Norway, which operated from 1966 to 2004. Originally based in Froland, since 1969 it operated out of Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik. Agderfly was owned by Ola Rustenberg, who was also chief instructor. From 1989 to 1992 the company was split into three, with one part responsible for scheduled services. It operated two Dornier 228 and flew services from Kristiansand to Gothenburg, Billund and Bremen.

Arctic Air AS was a Norwegian airline which operated between 1996 and 2003. From 2000 to 2003 it built up a network of scheduled services, in part based on public service obligation (PSO) contracts, flying with two Dornier 228. The company was based in Alta.

References

  1. ↑ "Katoair". Nordlys (in Norwegian). 2 February 1996. p. 12.
  2. 1 2 Nilsen, Geir Bjørn (21 October 1998). "Flyr høyt på avis-avtale". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). p. 19.
  3. 1 2 Vestmo, B (1 October 2002). "SAS fikk postkontrakten". Adresseavisen (in Norwegian). p. 16.
  4. ↑ Hagby: 299
  5. ↑ Hagby: 145
  6. ↑ Hagby: 97
  7. 1 2 Hagby: 210
  8. ↑ Nilsen, Geir Bjørn (17 February 1997). "Katoair". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). p. 15.
  9. ↑ Bøifot, Ragnar (22 October 1998). "Nye flyruterog oppkjøp for Katoair". Nordlys (in Norwegian). p. 11.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Markusson, Helge (8 December 1998). "Ingen tittel". Nordlys (in Norwegian). p. 99.
  11. ↑ Tronstad, Hans (27 July 2001). "Helitrans mot nye høyder". Adresseavisen (in Norwegian). p. 8.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Markusson, Helge (18 December 1999). "Kato Air vurderer å legge ned persontrafikken". Nordlys (in Norwegian). p. 13.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Moe, Kjell; Sundheim, Øyvind (29 August 2002). "Kato Air vurderer å legge ned persontrafikken". Nordlys (in Norwegian). p. 8.
  14. 1 2 3 Ytterstad, Rolf Kulseng (7 November 2005). "Kato Air tapte oppdrag". Harstad Tidende (in Norwegian).
  15. ↑ "Ny Kristiansund-rute". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). 28 February 2002. p. 17.
  16. ↑ "Knallhard kritikk fra Røst". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 6 December 2003. p. 8.
  17. 1 2 Endresen, Rune (1 August 2007). "Luftig for Kato Air". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian). p. 11.
  18. ↑ Endresen, Rune (18 December 1999). ""Kaprerrute" ut på anbud". Nordlys (in Norwegian). p. 13.
  19. ↑ "–10 millioner ekstra for å fly Narvik-Bodø". Norwegian News Agency (in Norwegian). 19 January 2005.
  20. ↑ Jensvold, Anne-Elise (6 February 2006). "Halvert trafikk med Kato Air". Harstad Tidende (in Norwegian).
  21. ↑ Lillesund, Geir (2 November 2005). "Coast Air "konsesjonsvinner" i ny kortbaneperiode". Norwegian News Agency (in Norwegian).
  22. ↑ Karlsen, Marius (25 November 2006). "Widerøe flyr i Finnmark". Nordlys (in Norwegian). p. 4.
  23. ↑ Glomne, Lars Molteberg (2 September 2008). "Flygerhelten blir trailersjåfør". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). p. 13.
  24. ↑ "Report on the aircraft accident at Bodø Airport on 4 December 2003 involving Dornier 228-202 LN-HTA, operated by Kato Airline AS". Accident Investigation Board Norway. June 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  25. ↑ Attacked the pilots with an axe Dagbladet, September 29, 2004, in Norwegian.
  26. ↑ Kato Air-flyet nær havari etter pilotangrep
  27. ↑ 15 years in prison in the Kato Air case NTB article in Aftenposten June 23, 2005, in Norwegian.
  28. ↑ Gikk amok med øks på fly – nå er han sendt ut av landet

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.