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 (economics), market. An early form of trade, barter, s ...

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 airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...

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 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 ...

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 aviati ...

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 inroa ...

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 Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...

. The company filed for bankruptcy following the demise of the charter market after the

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

History

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 Atlan ...

, it intended both to target the ''ad hoc'' as well as the

charter market. It initially took over two

from Meyer, although these were sold in 1970 and 1971.Hagby: 287Hagby: 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

,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 a ...

,Hagby: 220Hagby: 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 of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. The Queenliners were used for this route. The IT market was undergoing a dramatic boom during this period, and in 1971Hagby: 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

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 Fjellfly (literally "Mountain Fly") was a Norwegian airline which operated between 1954 and 1972. The airline was based at Skien Airport, Geiteryggen and served a diverse range of general aviation activities and a limited scheduled services. Major ...

, 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 Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...

'' (known in North America and some countries as ''The Terrorists''). Following the

, 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