Mey-Air Transport A/S,
trading as
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...
Mey-Air, was a Norwegian
charter airline
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline).
Regulation
Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...
which operated from 1970 to 1974. Owned by shipping owner
Hans Otto Meyer, the company flew both smaller ''ad hoc'' charter as well as
inclusive tour
A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...
(IT). Initially operating a varied fleet of ten
Cessna,
Beechcraft
Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general avi ...
,
Convair CV-240
The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inro ...
and
NAMC YS-11
The NAMC YS-11 is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (NAMC), a Japanese consortium. It was the only post-war airliner to be wholly designed and manufactured in Japan until the development of t ...
, these were largely sold in 1972 to make way for two
Boeing 737-200
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...
. The company filed for bankruptcy following the demise of the charter market after the
1973 oil crisis.
History
![Mey-Air Beech 99A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Mey-Air_Beech_99A.jpg)
Mey-Air was established as a charter airline in 1970,
by shipping owner Hans Otto Meyer.
Based at the then secondary
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport ( no, Oslo lufthavn; ), 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 Flyr, Norse Atl ...
, it intended both to target the ''ad hoc'' as well as the
inclusive tour
A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...
charter market.
It initially took over two
Convair CV-240
The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inro ...
from Meyer, although these were sold in 1970 and 1971.
[Hagby: 287][Hagby: 288] The airline followed up by buying eight aircraft of six different types, consisting of a
Cessna 401
Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...
,
[Hagby: 306] a
Cessna 402B,
a
Cessna 421
The Cessna 421 Golden Eagle is an American six or seven seat twin-engined light transport aircraft, developed in the 1960s by Cessna as a pressurized version of the earlier Cessna 411.
Development
The Cessna 421 was first produced in May 196 ...
,
[Hagby: 305] two
NAMC YS-11
The NAMC YS-11 is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (NAMC), a Japanese consortium. It was the only post-war airliner to be wholly designed and manufactured in Japan until the development of t ...
,
[Hagby: 231] two
Beechcraft Queen Air
The Beechcraft Queen Air is a twin-engined light aircraft produced by Beechcraft in several versions from 1960 to 1978. Based upon the Twin Bonanza, with which it shared key components such as wings, engines, and tail surfaces, but featuring ...
,
[Hagby: 220][Hagby: 221] and a
Beechcraft King Air 100.
[Hagby: 311] These aircraft were quickly sold,
and by the end of 1972 only the Cessna 401 was still in service.
During 1970 Mey-Air operated a newspaper services out of Oslo to
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and onwards to
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. The Queenliners were used for this route. The IT market was undergoing a dramatic boom during this period,
and in 1971
[Hagby: 231] Mey-Air acquired two Boeing 737-200 for Mediterranean IT flights.
Their only later aircraft acquisition was a 1973 purchase of a
Cessna 150
The Cessna 150 is a two-seat tricycle gear general aviation airplane that was designed for flight training, touring and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 22-23. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. In 19 ...
and a Convair CV-240.
[Hagby: 207]
![Mey-Air 737-2H5 LN-MTD](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Mey-Air_737-2H5_LN-MTD.jpg)
Mey-Air showed interest in 1972 in acquiring their concessions to operate the routes out of
Skien Airport, Geiteryggen
Skien Airport, Geiteryggen ( no, Skien lufthavn, Geiteryggen; ) is a regional airport located at Geiteryggen, southwest of the city center of Skien, Norway. Owned by Skien Municipality, it was last served by Widerøe with daily flights to Bergen. ...
. Despite the bankruptcy of the incumbent,
Fjellfly, Mey-Air withdrew their interest in the routes.
Starting in December 1972, Mey-Air started a cooperation with Falkereiser to fly Danish tourists to Norway. This agreement would become a liability as Mey-Air was not paid in full and eventually became of creditor of the tour operator after it went bankrupt in 1974. One of the 737s is prominently featured as the hijacked aircraft in the 1974 feature film ''
Ransom'' (known in North America and some countries as ''The Terrorists'').
Following the
1973 oil crisis, Mey-Air was, similar to other IT airlines, adversely affected. Costs rose while charter rates declined, making it impossible to run with a profit. Mey-Air ceased operations on 22 February 1974 and filed for bankruptcy two days later.
Fleet
The following is a list of aircraft operated by Mey-Air. It contains the model, the accumulated number of aircraft operated (which may exceed the peak count), the year built, the year the type first entered service with the airline, and the year the last unit was retired.
References
Bibliography
*
{{Portal bar, Aviation, Companies, Norway
Airlines established in 1970
Airlines disestablished in 1974
Defunct airlines of Norway
Norwegian companies established in 1970
1974 disestablishments in Norway
Companies based in Bærum