Bærum is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral district and historical county of Akershus and of the newer Viken County. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandvika. Bærum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838.
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.
Oslo Airport, alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is the international airport serving Oslo, Norway, the capital and most populous city in the country. A hub for Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavian Airlines and Widerøe, it connects to 26 domestic and 158 international destinations.
Fornebu is a peninsular area in the suburban municipality of Bærum in Norway, bordering western parts of Oslo.
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norwegian low-cost airline and Scandinavia's second-largest airline, behind Scandinavian Airlines. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe behind Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair, the largest airline in Norway, and the ninth-largest airline in Europe in terms of passenger numbers. It offers a high-frequency domestic flight schedule within Scandinavia and Finland, and to business destinations such as London, as well as to holiday destinations in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands, transporting over 30 million people in 2016. The airline is known for its distinctive livery of white with a red nose, with portraits of high achievers on the tail fins of its aircraft.
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 passengers 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 an airline holding company headquartered in the SAS Frösundavik Office Building in Solna Municipality, Sweden. It is the owner of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines and SAS Connect. SAS once owned 19.9% of the now defunct Spanish airline Spanair as well as shares in Estonian Air and Skyways Express. SAS Group is partially owned by the governments of Sweden and Denmark with a 14.82% and 14.24% holding, respectively. The remaining 70.92% is held by private shareholders, of which Foundation Asset Management owns 6.50%. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the Stockholm Stock Exchange, and the Copenhagen Stock Exchange.
Kristiansand Airport is an international airport serving Kristiansand Municipality in Agder county, Norway. The airport is located in the district of Tveit in the Oddernes borough, about 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) by road and 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) by air from the center of town of Kristiansand. Operated by the state-owned Avinor, it is the sole airport in Southern Norway with scheduled flights. It has a 2,035-meter (6,677 ft) runway aligned 03/21 and served 1,061,130 passengers in 2018. Scheduled flights are provided by Scandinavian Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Widerøe, KLM Cityhopper and Wizz Air. The Royal Norwegian Air Force has a training center at the airport.
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.
Haugesund Airport is an international airport serving the Haugaland region in Norway. It is located just outside the town of Haugesund on the Helganes peninsula on the island of Karmøy in the municipality of Karmøy, Rogaland county, Norway. The airport features a 2,120-meter (6,960 ft) runway aligned 13/31. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Norwegian Air Shuttle provide services to Oslo. Haugesund Airport also offers discounts on international routes and has some service from low-cost carriers. The airport handled 694,005 passengers in 2014.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
The location of the main airport serving the city of Oslo, Norway, has been the subject of several political debates since 1918. The first controversy was initially related to choice between the islands of Gressholmen and Lindøya in the Oslofjord for a water aerodrome. The debate later changed, arriving at the decision in 1933, to locate a new airport at Fornebu. However, Oslo Airport, Fornebu, being located on a peninsula, proved to not have sufficient space for a runway capable of intercontinental aircraft and a second runway, resulting in plans from the 1960s to replace it. The main contestants were Gardermoen Air Station, Hurum, Hobøl, Ås and a split solution between Fornebu and Gardermoen. In 1992, parliament decided to build an all-new Oslo Airport, Gardermoen; when it opened in 1998, Fornebu was closed. The decision caused the southern parts of Eastern Norway to be moved further from the main airport, and the regional, privately owned Sandefjord Airport, Torp became the base for low-cost airlines. Moss Airport, Rygge opened in 2007, becoming the third simultaneous airport to serve Oslo, and closed in 2016.
Diamanten or Oksenøyveien 3 is an office building located at Fornebu in Bærum, Norway. It was built in 1985 as the head office of the airline Braathens SAFE, and later became the head office of SAS Braathens before the merger with Scandinavian Airlines. As of April 1, 2010, it has been the head office of Norwegian Air Shuttle.
