Braathens Helikopter
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Braathens Helikopter A/S was a
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...
based at Stavanger Airport and Bergen Airport. It used a fleet of seven Aérospatiale Super Pumas to serve offshore
oil platforms An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...
in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
. The customers were
Amoco Amoco () is a brand of fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, a ...
, BP,
Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world an ...
,
Phillips Petroleum Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the ...
and
Statoil Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian state owned enterprise, state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger. It is primarily a petroleum company, petroleum company, operating in 36 countries with ad ...
, serving their oil fields
Ekofisk Ekofisk is an oil field in block 2/4 of the Norwegian sector of the North Sea about southwest of Stavanger. Discovered in 1969 by Phillips Petroleum Company, it remains one of the most important oil fields in the North Sea. This was the fir ...
, Oseberg,
Gullfaks Gullfaks is an oil and gas field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea operated by Equinor. It was discovered in 1978, in block 34/10, at a water depth of 130-230 meters.Petterson, O., Storli, A., Ljosland, E., Nygaard, O., Massie, I., and Carl ...
, Veslefrikk, Valhall, Ula and Gyda. Braathens Helikopter operated from 1989 to 1993, after which it was sold to and merged with the main competitor,
Helikopter Service CHC Helikopter Service, previously CHC Norway, CHC Helikopter Service and Helikopter Service is the Norwegian division of CHC Helicopter Corporation. The airline was an independent company until 1999. It operates primarily to oil platforms on ...
. Braathens Helikopter was owned by Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi and was a sister company of the airline
Braathens SAFE 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. F ...
.


Operations

Braathens Helikopter was a pure helicopter airline, with the main base at Stavanger Airport and a secondary base at Bergen Airport. It operated seven Aérospatiale Super Puma helicopters, each with nineteen seats. They were used exclusively on long-term contracts with oil companies to ship crews to their oil platforms in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The company employed at the most 120 people, was owned by Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi, and was a sister company of Braathens SAFE. The airline served seven oil fields: Ekofisk, Gullfaks, Gyda, Oseberg, Ula, Valhall, Veslefrikk. These were on contract with
Amoco Amoco () is a brand of fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, a ...
, BP,
Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world an ...
,
Phillips Petroleum Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in the ...
and
Statoil Equinor ASA (formerly Statoil and StatoilHydro) is a Norwegian state owned enterprise, state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger. It is primarily a petroleum company, petroleum company, operating in 36 countries with ad ...
. The company had a 30% market share before it was sold.


History

Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi's first attempt at entering the helicopter market was in 1982, when it applied for a
concession Concession may refer to: General * Concession (contract) (sometimes called a concession agreement), a contractual right to carry on a certain kind of business or activity in an area, such as to explore or develop its natural resources or to opera ...
from the
Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Transportation (; ) is a Norwegian ministry established in 1946, and is responsible for transportation in Norway. The ministry was responsible for communication infrastructure until may 2019, when the responsibility f ...
to operate offshore helicopters, which it was awarded in 1983. As a protest, the incumbent Helikopter Service applied for the airline routes that Braathens SAFE operated from Stavanger, but this application was rejected. The airline was not founded until 1 September 1989, after Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi, the owner of Braathens SAFE, made an agreement with the oil companies Phillips Petroleum, Norsk Hydro and Statoil. The agreement involved flights to the platforms Ekofisk, Oseberg, Gullfaks og Veslefrikk. Prior to this, Helikopter Service had held a monopoly on flights for the oil companies to their offshore installations. The oil companies wanted to establish a competitor to Helikopter Service to press down prices. The initial agreement gave a revenue of and gave the new company a 20% market share. Four 19-seat Aérospatiale Super Puma helicopters were ordered, each costing NOK 60 million. Total investment costs were NOK 300 million. Two helicopters were stationed at Stavanger Airport, Sola, and two at Bergen Airport, Flesland. Bjarne Sortland was appointed managing director. The first helicopter was delivered in May, with a new helicopter being delivered each month. They were named ''Havsulen'', ''Havhesten'', ''Havørn'' and ''Havsvale''. Owner
Bjørn G. Braathen Bjorn (English, Dutch), Björn (Swedish, Icelandic, Dutch, and German), Bjørn (Danish, Faroese and Norwegian), Beorn (Old English) or, rarely, Bjôrn, Biorn, or Latinized Biornus, Brum (Portuguese), is a Scandinavian male given name, or less oft ...
stated that his goal was that the airline would reach a 50% market share. In 1990, another challenger,
Mørefly Mørefly A/S was an airline and general aviation company which operated between 1955 and 1995. Based in Ålesund and later Giske, Norway, it was involved in a wide range of operations, the most dominant being air ambulance services and helicopter ...
, had also established themselves in the market. For the start of operations, Braathens Helikopter hired 22 pilots, most of them previously working for the
Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...
. The company had 70 employees in total. Services started on 1 September 1990, where the initial contract involved flying 10,000 passengers per year. In January 1991, the company placed an order and an option for the Super Puma. In June, Braathens Helikopter signed a three-year agreement, with an option for a two-year extension, with
Amoco Amoco () is a brand of fuel stations operating in the United States, and owned by BP since 1998. The Amoco Corporation was an American chemical and oil company, founded by Standard Oil Company in 1889 around a refinery in Whiting, Indiana, a ...
for flights from Stavanger to Valhall. The revenue was between NOK 100 and 200 million, depending on the length of the contract and the capacity needed. Operations started in February 1992, and involved the company purchasing the Super Puma they had an option for. On 10 September, Braathens Helikopter was awarded the contract with British Petroleum for flights from Stavanger to Ula and Gyda. The contract gave a revenue of up to NOK 300 million in the course five years. Operations started on 1 November 1992, and involved about 2,000 hours of flying per year. With this contract, Braathens Helikopter had about a 30% market share. As a consequence of the contract, Braathens purchased another Super Puma. After operations started, the company had grown to 120 employees and was the second-largest helicopter operator in the country. The company made a profit of NOK 14 million in 1991, NOK 11 million in 1992 and NOK 23 million in the seven first months of 1993. In 1993, Norway decided to allow any airline from the
European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Ass ...
to operate helicopter services in Norway from 1995. This meant that companies like Bristow Helicopters,
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...
and
Maersk Air (), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line a ...
could start operation in Norway. This would be coordinated through common technical rules for helicopters through the
Joint Aviation Authorities The Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) was an associated body of the European Civil Aviation Conference representing the civil aviation regulatory authorities of a number of European States who had agreed to co-operate in developing and implementin ...
. Braathens Helikopter and Helikopter Service announced on 1 October 1993 that the two companies would merge from 1 January 1994. Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi would be paid NOK 225 million in Helikopter Service shares. The
Norwegian Competition Authority Norwegian Competition Authority ( no, Konkurransetilsynet) is Norwegian Government agency responsible for managing the ''Competition Act'' of 2004, including regulations imposed through the European Economic Community. This includes regulating coo ...
stated they would have to look at the merger, since the new company would have a near-monopoly on offshore flights. However, the Ministry of Transport and Communications stated that the authority could not hinder the merger, because, by the time new contracts were awarded in 1995, helicopter operators from foreign countries would also be allowed to bid. The ownership of Braathens Helikopter was transferred to Helikopter Service on 14 December. Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi received 14% of the shares in the merged company. They were immediately sold, giving Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi a NOK 170 million profit on the five-year venture. Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi needed the capital to participate in an
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
of Braathens. Most of the management of Braathens Helikopter was hired at the newly established competitor United Helicopter, a joint venture between Bristow Helicopters, Leif Höegh & Co and Andreas Ugland & Sønn.


Destinations

The following is a list of Braathens Helikoper's destinations. It includes the name of the location or platform, the aerodrome's
ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
and
IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
codes and name.


References

{{helicopter airlines Defunct airlines of Norway Airlines established in 1989 Airlines disestablished in 1993 Companies based in Sola Norwegian companies established in 1989 1993 disestablishments in Norway Defunct helicopter airlines CHC Helikopter Service