Widerøe is a regional airline, which flies an extensive network of point-to-point services throughout Norway as well as international services.
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Widerøe was established on the foundations of two small airlines during the 1930s. Lotsberg & Skappel, owned by Helge Skappel, Leiv Brun, Ditlef Smith and Erik Engnæs, operated a single Gipsy Moth. Widerøe & Bjørneby, which was founded by Viggo Widerøe and Halvor Bjørneby, operated a single Simmonds Spartan. A cooperation was initiated between the two companies and Norsk Aero Klubb to establish air shows in Eastern Norway. During the winter, they stationed the planes at mountain resorts and made revenue from flying skiers into the wilderness. Advertisement flights were introduced, where a company or product name was painted on the hull, with a neon-light version underneath, and leaflets dropped from the planes.[1]
In 1933, Viggo Widerøe traveled to the United States with NOK 25,000, and flew back a Waco Cabin. The same year, the company bought five used de Havilland DH.60 Moth from the Air Force and started aviation schools both in Oslo and Bergen. On 19 February 1934, Widerøe's Flyveselskap A/S was founded by Viggo Widerøe, Einar Isdahl and Arild Widerøe. For the winter months, skis were equipped on the Cabin and Spartan. The company also started ambulance flights. In April, the company expanded their share capital from NOK 25,000 to NOK 65,000. The money was used to buy a sea version of a Cabin, and on 15 June started flying the post route from Oslo via Kristiansand and Stavanger to Haugesund. During the summer, the company arranged a summer camp for youth, and the company bought a sail plane.[2]
The company started a cooperation with four regional steam ship companies—Vesterålske, Nordenfjeldske, Stavangerske and Arendalske. On 21 November, they established the company Norske Kystflyveruter and applied for all concessions to fly postal services around the coast, as well as to Gothenburg in Sweden. At the same time, Fred. Olsen & Co. and Bergenske bought Det Norske Luftfartselskap (DNL) and also applied for the routes. Widerøe wanted to use seaplanes, while DNL was going to use land planes. The government urged to companies to split the routes between them, but before the negotiations were completed, Nygaardsvold's Cabinet was appointed, and they granted DNL a ten-year concession on all domestic flights.[3]
After losing all scheduled flights, Widerøe expanded to Northern Norway and started taxi flights. In 1935, the company also started in the cartography business. In Oslo, the company built a summer base for sea planes at Ingierstand, and a winter base for ski planes at Bogstadvannet. Around Bergen, the airline would land at cruise ships and offer flights to tourists to see the fjords and mountains. In March 1936, 51% of the company was taken over by DNL as part of a private placement. This allowed DNL to transfer some of its concessions to Widerøe, who started flying Oslo – Lillehammer/Tretten – Gålå – Fefor – Tyinholmen/Nystuen, mainly aimed at tourists. For this route, a Bellanca Senior Pacemaker was bought. Widerøe also wet operated DNL's route from Oslo to Gothenburg, the route Tromsø to Honningsvåg and Bergen–Vadheim–Slidre–Balestrand. This routes in part used a Stinson Reliant.[4]
In 1937, the company make 44 flights along the coast of Antarctica, covering 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) of coast at least 50 kilometres (31 mi) inland. These flights were ordered by Lars Christensen for cartography. From July to September, the company also flew a route between Trondheim and Bodø. The base at Bogstad in Bergen was expanded, and the company was granted a monopoly on all aerial photography flights for the mapping authories. During 1938, the Bogstad workshop and Birger Hønningstad started a cooperation where Widerøe built the Hønningstad Norge-planes. The same year, a plane went to Svalbard for cartographic work, and a route was started from Trondheim via Brønnøysund, Sandnessjøen, Bodø, Narvik and Harstad to Tromsø. For three months, the route was expanded to Kirkenes via Hammerfest and Vadsø.[5]
Following the break-out of World War II on 2 September 1939, all pilots became conscripted, and there was a ban on civilian aviation. DNL was worried about the steady losses the company was making, and suggested liquidating the company. On 5 December 1939, DNL's shares were transferred to the other shareholders. In 1940, the company started flying ambulance flights for the military. The planes were rented from the airline, while the crew were conscripted. Widerøe was also granted dispensation from the civil aviation ban to continue its school at Bogstad. Following the German invasion of Norway, many pilots and aircraft of Widerøe were flown to Mjøsa were they served as part of the defence. All planes were grounded during the occupation, and German authorities demanded that magnets and propellers be handed in. The workshop at Bogstad was kept busy with production of ambulance sleds for the German military. In secret, the company also started building a Hønningstad C-5 Polar ambulance plane at Bogstad. The German authorities sealed the company's archives, so only people with German permission had access to aerial photos.[6]
After the liberation of Norway in 1945, there was still a flight ban, and the employees at Bogstad were hired by the Royal Norwegian Air Force at Oslo Airport, Fornebu. The companies Piper Cubs were restored and the company bought a SAI KZ III and a Fairchild Cornell for schduled service. A Hønninstad Norge B was completed and two Messerschmitt Taifun for aerial photography were taken over from Luftwaffe. For taxi flights, the company bought three Fairchild Argus. The company received permission to fly from 2 February 1946. The same year, the company's mechanical division was moved from Bogstad to Fornebu. In 1947, Widerøe bought a Republic Seabee, but further purchases were not permitted by the authorities to keep down the outflow of currency. That year, Forenede Industrier bought the majority of the company. Viggo Widerøe was again hired as managing director. The Hønninstad C-5 Polar was completed, but serial production for the Air Force did not commence due to aid from Canada.[7]
In 1948, the company was awarded concession for a route from Arendal to Oslo. That year, the company merged with Narvik-based Polarfly, and changed its name to Widerøe's Flyveselskap & Polarfly A/S. The take-over included four Norseman craft. This made it possible for the new company to station two planes at Skattøre in Tromsø. The following year, the company innovated with taking areas photographies of farms that were sold to the owners. In 1950, the Western Norway routes were reduced to Stavanger – Haugesund – Bergen for DNL. From November 1950 to February 1951, the company again participated on an Antarctic expedition. The same winter, the company started flight training for the Air Force using Fairchild Cornell-aircraft. The company also won a contract to maintain all the aircraft of that type for the Air Force.[8]
In 1951, the company replaced its Avro Anson V aerial photography plane with four Airspeed Oxford from the Royal Norwegian Air Force. Starting 21 May 1951, the company started its first own scheduled service in Northern Norway, from Narvik via Svolvær to Bodø. In 1952, the company established itself at Trondheim Airport, Lade with a Seabee taxi- and ambulance plane as well as school activity. In 1952, the Northern Norway-route was expanded to also serve Gravdal. The following year, a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver was bought for use in Finnmark. The company chose to differentiate, and started production of emergency rafts, refrigerated garages in aluminium and thermo elements for the industry. In 1954, the company received a subcontract from Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), the successor of DNL, to operate a see plane route from Tromsø via Alta, Hammerfest and Kirkenes to Vadsø. For this route, the company bought its first de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter. The company had that year 21 mechanics in Oslo and 14 in Tromsø, and signed a contract to service the Air Force' Norseman aircraft.[9]
In 1956, the company took into use two Lockheed 12As for aerial photography. One of these was that year used in Liberia and Syria. The same year, the company took over SAS' last Junkers Ju-52 and put it into service on the sea route Bodø – Harstad – Tromsø, and thus Widerøe operated all of SAS' sea routes. The next year, SAS granted a loan so the number of Otters could be increased to four, replacing the Ju-52. From 1 July 1958, the company changed its name back to just Widerøe's Flyveselskap A/S. That year, both a Cessna 170 and a Cornell crashed, killing five people between them. The company also took over SAS' aviation school needs at Fornebu. For aerial photography in Svalbard, the company bought a Douglas RB-26C Invader. To purchase the Air Force' last nine Norseman planes in 1959 for NOK the company cooperated with Solbergfly and bough five for NOK 125,000. This proved to ambitious, and two were sold to Aero Sahara. In 1960, the first land airports in Finnmark were opened, and SAS' demand for sea routes was reduced. Widerøe retired all Norseman planes from service, and were left with only Otters.[10]
The contract to build a base for the military on Jan Mayen was awarded to the company's mechanical division in 1959. It was prefabricated at Fosser and completed in 1960. In 1964, this division was made a subsidiary, Widerøe Industry A/S. Until 1963, Helikopter Service used Widerøe for mechanical services. In 1962, the company bought a Douglas DC-3 that was put into charter traffic. The plane was prone with technical difficulties, and was replaced by one bought from Braathens SAFE in September. The next charter plane was a Nord 260 Super Broussard that came in December. By 1965, the company had used four different DC-3s and bought three Nords. In 1963, new primary airports opened in Finnmark, and SAS extended their route to Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen. This forced all sea plane routes north of Tromsø to be terminated, and the company was left with routes between Bodø and Tromsø. The Trondheim base was closed 31 December 1963, following the decision to redevelop the area for industry and only use the airport at Værnes.[11]
Widerøe's management wanted to have larger aircraft for charter. It started a cooperation with Nordair of Denmark, from which the airline borrowed a Douglas DC-6 with the livery Widerøe Nordair, and started flights from Oslo in 1964. It quickly proved unprofitable and was terminated. In 1964, a DC-3 parked at Fornebu with passengers burnt up, but no-one was killed. All charter operations were terminated in 1965, after the company had failed to find financing for larger aircraft. During the early 1960s, the company bought new photography planes from Cessna: a 320 and a 185. In 1964, the Bodø–Narvik route was terminated and the following year the airline stated sea flights from Bodø to the islands of Røst and Værøy using a Norseman. The ambulance bases during the 1960s were Bodø, Narvik and Tromsø, although also Alta and Hammerfest had ambulance planes stationed in 1964.[12]
New concessions for sea planes were granted in 1966, with the routes Tromsø–Hammerfest and Bodø – Mo i Rana – Sandnessjøen – Brønnøysund – Rørvik – Namsos – Hell. Additional Otters were bought from the Royal Norwegian Air Force for these routes. This made it possible to sell all the Norsemans.[13] New Cessna 411A, 206 and 337-planes were bought in 1968 to replace the older photography planes.
In 1965 Håkon Kyllingmark from the Conservative Party was appointed Minister of Transport. He rejected the previous government's proposal to build nine new primary airports, stating that with the contemporary funding it would take about 25 years to complete them. The last 12 years, NATO-funding had been used to build new air stations, and these had also been taken into civilian use. Kyllingmark felt that there were sufficient primary airports, but he still saw the need to build new airports for distant areas. He proposed a network of secondary airports between Bergen and Kirkenes, that would use short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft to feed to the primary airports. Parliament passed his proposal, that included also building three of the intended nine primary airports.[14]
The first four airports were located in Helgeland between Bodø and Trondheim: Mo i Rana, Sandnessjøen, Brønnøysund and Namsos. Each airport had a 800-metre (2,600 ft) long and 30-metre (98 ft) wide runway, in addition to a small terminal building. Since Widerøe held the Helgeland sea concession, they were offered to operate the route with state and SAS subsidies. The routes would take into use de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter planes and would allow all-year connections to the primary airports in Trondheim and Trondheim. The airline rented a hangar at Trondheim Airport, and all pilots needed to be re-certified to C- and instrument certificates. The first service was 1 July 1968. The following year, the company had NOK 1 million in state grants to the sea operations, and NOK 850,000 in SAS grants the Helgeland route.[15]
Despite higher income than prognosed, Widerøe lost money on the trials. But they proved highly popular among the passengers, and in 1969 parliament voted to build new airports.[16] The same year, SAS bought Forenede Industrier's shares in Widerøe, and Per Bergsland replaced Viggo Widerøe as CEO. In 1970, the company was split in two: the aerial photography division was sold to the competitor Fjellanger, and the new company Fjellanger Widerøe was created. Scheduled services remained with Widerøe. The same year, the mechanical division at Fornebu was sold to Fred Olsens Air Transport and a second Twin Otter was bought. In 1971, a 20% primary placement was issued and the company moved its head office to Bodø. At the end of the sea plane season, the ambulance stations in Bodø and Tromsø and the three remaining Otters were sold. Widerøe became a pure land-based, scheduled airline.[17]
The company bought a 817 square metres (8,790 sq ft) hangar at Bodø Airport as its new mechanical base. The one Twin Otter was sold, but the company received a permanent concession for both the Helgeland Route as well as for the new airports on the West Coast: Florø, Førde, Sogndal and Ørsta/Volda that were connected to Bergen. The company also received permission to fly between Bergen, Ålesund, Kristiansund and Ørland. It also took over some of SAS flights between Bodø, Bardufoss, Andenes and Tromsø. A new mechanical base was built in Florø and had a 900 square metres (9,700 sq ft) hangar and six employees. The new routes started on 1 July 1971. Exactly one year later, the airports in Vesterålen were opened: Svolvær, Leknes, Stokmarknes and Andenes and connected to Bodø. Also the new primary airport at Molde was opened on 5 April 1972. Five Twin Otters were in use in 1972, with an additional two added in 1973.[18]
The routes to Røst and Værøy were in 1972 converted to a helicopter route, that was flown by Helilift using two Sikorsky S-58Ts. In 1973, Widerøe received NOK 1.9 million in state subsidies for the helicopter route and NOK 13.6 million for the regional routes. That year, the company signed an option for two de Havilland Canad DHC-7 Dash 7. In 1974, Widerøe tested from 1 May to 30 September a route from Sogndal to Oslo over the mountains. On 1 August, five airports were opened in Northern Troms and Finnmark: Sørkjosen, Hammerfest, Mehamn, Berlevåg and Vadsø, and connected to Tromsø, Alta, Lakselv and Kirkenes. This required that the company receive two new Twin Otters. A technical base was built at Hammerfest. Three more airports opened afterwards: Sandane on 1 July 1975, Narvik on 1 October 1975 and Honningsvåg on 1 July 1977. By 1978, the company had twelve Twin Otters.[19]
In 1976, the Sikorsky helicopter was bought from Helilift, and the operation transferred to Offshore Helicopters. The plane crashed in 1977, and a new Sikorsky S-58T was bought in 1978. In 1980, Offshore Helicopters was bought by Helikopter Service, who took over operation. Starting on 1 January 1982, the Røst and Værøy routes were taken over suing Bell 212-helicopters.[20] Starting on 10 April 1980, Widerøe started an international service on behalf of SAS on the route from Trondheim to Östersund and Sundsvall in Sweden. Services terminated on 28 April 1982. The Sogndal–Oslo route was taken into permanent use in 1979, but only during the summer. A Twin Otter simulator was bought in 1981.[21]
The first two Dash 7s were taken into use in March and May 1981, with a third delivered in April 1983. The pressure-cabin planes had a capacity of 50 passengers, and Widerøe for the first time took into use flight attendants. From September 1983, the Dash 7s were used on the all-year route Oslo–Sogndal–Florø. Following SAS's rearrangement of routes in Northern Norway in 1983, Widerøe was subcontracted the routes Tromsø–Lakselv, Bardufoss–Bodø, and Tromsø–Evenes–Bodø, all to be flown with Dash 7, along with the routes to Hammerfest and Vadsø. This required a further two Dash 7s to be delivered.[22]
The airline's last sea plane was decommissioned in 1971. In total the airline operated 12 Twin Otters and 8 Dash 7s at the beginning of the 1990s. In 1992 the airline made an agreement with the Norwegian government in which the airline replaced all of its Twin Otter and Dash 7 aircraft with de Havilland Canada Dash-8-100 aircraft, seating 37. As a result of the agreement, the STOL network in Norway would be a PSO operation from 1 April 1997. The airline won all the routes in 1997, but in 2000 the airline had to relinquish the route Bodø–Røst to Guard Air, but regained it after Guard Air folded. In 2003 the route was surrendered to Kato Air. Since then the airline has lost the routes to Andenes, Fagernes, Florø and Røros, though it in 2006 has recaptured the routes to Narvik and in 2007 the routes to Andenes.
Norsk Air was a Sandefjord Airport-based airline which operated a fleet of Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia regional aircraft.[23] The company operated both domestic and international services from Sandefjord and Skien Airport, Geiteryggen.[24] The company was owned by the conglomerate Kosmos. In 1988, the group landed in financial distress, and CEO Bjørn Bettum and Chair Otto Grieg Tidemand were fired on 21 October 1988. The Skaugen Group, who bought Kosmos, decided to divest all non-core activities, including the airline.[25] Negotiations were started between Norsk Air and Widerøe for a take-over. Widerøe saw the strategic advantage of having non-subsidized routes to better benchmark its operations. However, neither SAS nor Braathens SAFE wanted to purchase Norsk Air, in part because they feared it could cannibalize their own operations. Fred. Olsen & Co. liked the idea, and bought SAS' and Braathens SAFE's 62.3% stake in Widerøe to make the deal possible.[26]
In 1989, Norsk Air had 156 employees and 150,000 annual passengers. The employees agreed to cut their wages 10% and not take sick days during the sales process. One of the main difficulties in the sales process was that Widerøe could not afford to purchase Norsk Air's hangar at the airport. Widerøe wanted to continue operations at both Torp and Geiteryggen for a year to see where to establish its base. In fear that the airline would move to Skien, the municipalities of Sandefjord and Stokke, who owned the majority of the airport, agreed to purchase the hangar, which had been built for NOK 20 million in 1987, for NOK 11.5 million. Half the hangar would be rented to Widerøe for NOK 500,000 per year. This was insufficient to cover the NOK 1.2 million in annual interest costs.[27]
Widerøe took over Norsk Air on 1 May 1989 free of charge, and changed the company's name to Widerøe Norsk Air. The company was kept as a subsidiary to avoid cross-subsidization of the subsidized routes. Widerøe started negotiations with Busy Bee, and agreed to lease the Fokker 50 used by Busy Bee to Sandefjord, in exchange for Busy Bee terminating the route in 1990. Widerøe Norsk Air also decided that it was not profitable to fly from both Skien and Sandefjord, and terminated all Skien services. Starting on 28 October 1991, the airline also started a route from Sandefjord via Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik to London. This route was terminated one year later.[28] In 1993, Widerøe sold its Fokker 50 to Norwegian Air Shuttle.[29] On 1 May 1996, Widerøe Norsk Air was merged with Widerøe.[30]
Fred. Olsen & Co. decided to buy part of Widerøe again in the late 1960s, and in 1970 Braathens SAFE bought 18% of the company. In 1991 Braathens SAFE and SAS sold to Fred. Olsen, who owned 64% of the company. The other owners at that time were Torghatten Trafikkselskap, Nordlandsbanken and Fylkesbaatane i Sogn og Fjordane. In 1997, Fred. Olsen sold 29% of its stock to SAS Group, who later bought the rest of the company.
Following the deregulation of the Norwegian airline market in 1994, Widerøe launched new international routes, which included flights from Bergen and Stavanger to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Newcastle in the United Kingdom, as well as from Trondheim to Copenhagen and Stockholm. For some of these operations, Widerøe acquired 76-seat Dash-8-Q400 aircraft. After Scandinavian Airlines bought Braathens in 2002, the group decided to operate Braathens' regional routes in Western Norway with the SAS Commuters Fokker 50 aircraft operating in Northern Norway. The routes in Western Norway were until then operated by Norwegian Air Shuttle, who then became a low-cost carrier. SAS Commuter left its operations in Northern Norway to Widerøe, who operate all the SAS Group's regional routes north of Trondheim. This involved that Widerøe took over the routes from Tromsø to Alta, Lakselv and Kirkenes, and the route from Harstad/Narvik to Tromsø, Bodø and Trondheim from October 2002.[31]
On 15 February 2010, Scandinavian Airlines announced that Widerøe would take over their regional routes connecting airports in Western Norway. SAS will retire their five Fokker 50 aircraft by November 2010, and Widerøe will take over the operations and 75 employees, and serve the routes using Q300 and Q400 aircraft.[32] Widerøe, who have lower wage costs and economy of scale derived from other regional operation in Norway, had planned the take-over of the SAS routes in the mid 2000s. However, this had been canceled after someone the SAS Group, not knowing about Widerøe's plans, had renewed the lease of the Fokker 50s for another five years.[33]
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