Norwegian Air Shuttle

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Norwegian Air Shuttle

IATA DY	ICAO NAX	Callsign Nor Shuttle
Founded		1993
Hubs		Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Focus cities / secondary hubs		Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport Bergen Airport, Flesland
Fleet size		22
Destinations		58
Headquarters		Fornebu, Norway
Key people		Bjørn Kjos (CEO)
Website: http://www.norwegian.no/

Norwegian Air Shuttle (OSE: NAS) is a Norwegian low-cost airline, with headquarters at Fornebu outside the country's capital Oslo and its main base at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. Norwegian Air Shuttle is also referred to as Norwegian, which is the company's commercial brand. ^[1]

The airline operates a fleet of 22 Boeing 737-300 aircraft. Its operational centres are in Oslo and Bergen and its technical center is at Stavanger Airport, Sola. ^{[citation needed]}

1 History
2 Operation
3 New Operations
4 Destinations
5 Fleet
6 External links
7 References

[edit] History

The airline was formed as Busy Bee Airservice in 1967. Between 1972 and 1983 it operated as Air Executive Norway and reformed as Norwegian Air Shuttle in 1993, starting operations in January 1993. In September 2002 it adopted the brand name Norwegian to concentrate on domestic low-cost operations ^[2].

Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) was founded in 1993 on the ruins of the bankruptcy of Busy Bee to continue the wet-leased regional flights on Braathens S.A.F.Es network on the Norwegian West Coast, serving Bergen, Haugesund, Kristiansund, Molde, Stavanger and Trondheim. The airline inherited three Fokker 50 aircraft from Busy Bee, but later also acquired three more aircraft. ^{[citation needed]}

The contract with Braathens expired in October 2003, when Braathens new owner SAS started using its fleet of Fokker 50 aircraft previously operated in Northern Norway under the SAS Commuter Norlink brand, to fly on the routes on the West Coast. But even before this the airline started some operations outside Braathens, including the previously Braathens contracted route from Stavanger to Newcastle, as well as the public service obligation from Bodø and Tromsø to Andøya, which they operated until January 1, 2003. ^{[citation needed]}

From 1 September 2002 the airline rebranded as Norwegian and started domestic flights as a low-cost carrier with six leased Boeing 737-300 aircraft, on the routes Oslo-Bergen, Oslo-Trondheim, Oslo-Tromsø and a week later on Oslo-Stavanger. For the first few months Norwegian had to wet lease three aircraft. Since then Norwegian has expanded considerably, offering a total of 55 destinations and 84 routes.

Norwegian was noted on Oslo Stock Exchange on 18 December 2004, with the ticker NAS. The largest owner is CEO Bjørn Kjos, who owns about one third of the company. In 2005 Norwegian Air Shuttle made a profit for the first time since Boeing 737 operations started in 2002.

Lately the airline has opened a second hub, at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport in Poland, flying to Central European destinations. There are 2 Boeing 737 operating from Warsaw^[3].

[edit] Operation

Their market share varies on the different routes, but the Oslo-Trondheim and Oslo-Bergen routes had the highest market share in 2005 with 37%.

The airline cooperates with Sterling on the Oslo-Copenhagen route, with FlyNordic on the Oslo-Stockholm route, and with Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise on the Oslo-St.Petersburg route.

Norwegian does not own its own handling services. Only light maintenance are done by own employees. Heavy maintenance (C/D checks) and engine maintenance are put out on tender. The airline is a member of European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA).

[edit] New Operations

Oslo - Zurich [starts January 6, 2007]
Oslo - Pula [starts April 14, 2007]
Oslo - Valencia [starts April 14, 2007]
Trondheim - Malaga [starts April 14,2007]
Oslo - Bordeaux [starts April 19, 2007]
Trondheim - Riga [starts April 20, 2007]
Trondheim - Alicante [start July 2, 2007] [seasonal]

[edit] Destinations

See full article: Norwegian Air Shuttle destinations

[edit] Fleet

Norwegian Boeing 737-300 LN-KKP Kirsten Flagstad

As of December 2006 the Norwegian Air Shuttle fleet consists of 22 Boeing 737-300^[4]. All the planes have 148 seats in one class. All but two aircraft are leased.

The company's aircraft livery is white with a red nose. Most aircrafts have a picture of a well-known Norwegian on the tail.

Aircraft	Registration	Name
Boeing 737-300	LN-KKF	Fridtjof Nansen
	LN-KKG	Gidsken Jakobsen
	LN-KKH	Otto Sverdrup
	LN-KKI	None (previously Helge Ingstad)
	LN-KKJ	Sonja Henie
	LN-KKL	Roald Amundsen
	LN-KKM	Thor Heyerdal
	LN-KKN	Sigrid Undset
	LN-KKO	Henrik Ibsen
	LN-KKP	Kirsten Flagstad
	LN-KKQ	Alf Prøysen
	LN-KKR
	LN-KKS	Edvard Munch
	LN-KKT
	LN-KKU
	LN-KKV	Niels Henrik Abel
	LN-KKW
	LN-KKX
	LN-KKY
	LN-KKZ	Logo jet advertizing for the insurance company Silver
	LN-KKB	Arrived, but not ready
	LN-KKC	Arrived, but not ready

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Airlines of Norway
CHC Helikopter Service \| Coast Air \| Kato Air \| Lufttransport \| Norsk Helikopter \| Norwegian \| SAS Braathens \| Widerøe

European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA)
Air Berlin • easyjet • Flybe • Hapag Lloyd Express • Norwegian Air Shuttle • Ryanair • SkyEurope • Sterling Airlines • Sverige Flyg • transavia.com • Volare Airlines • Wizz Air