Coast Air
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Coast Air AS was a
regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...
based at
Haugesund Airport, Karmøy Haugesund Airport ( no, Haugesund lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving the Haugaland region in Norway. It is located just outside the town of Haugesund on the Helganes peninsula on the island of Karmøy in the municipality of Karmøy, ...
in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. It was Norway's fourth largest airline and operated domestic services within Norway, in addition to international services. Routes were concentrated along the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...
, as well as some public service obligation contracts in Southern Norway. The company had a fleet of
de Havilland Canada Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarte ...
aircraft, later replaced with
Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the British ...
s and
ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and ...
s. The company was founded on the remains of Coast Aero Center, which operated from 1975 to 1988. Coast Air started flying
de Havilland Canada Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarte ...
aircraft from Haugesund to
Oslo Airport, Fornebu Oslo Airport, Fornebu ( no, Oslo lufthavn, Fornebu), was the primary international airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and the area has since been redevelo ...
and
Bergen Airport, Flesland Bergen Airport ( nn, Bergen lufthamn; ), alternatively Bergen Flesland Airport or simply Flesland Airport, is an international airport located at Flesland in the city and municipality of Bergen, Vestland, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the secon ...
. In 1990, service from
Fagernes Airport, Leirin Fagernes Airport, Leirin ( no, Fagernes lufthavn, Leirin; ) is a general aviation airport in Fagernes, in the municipality of Nord-Aurdal, Innlandet county, Norway. It has been an airport for passenger flights, serving Fagernes and the surroundin ...
was also introduced, a route that lasted until 1997. Following the deregulation of aviation in Norway in 1994, Coast Air started several regional routes, replacing its fleet with Jetstream 31 aircraft. From 2000, Coast Air also served
Florø Airport Florø Airport ( nn, Florø lufthamn, ) is a regional airport serving the town of Florø in Kinn Municipality, in the west central part of Vestland county, Norway. It is situated on the southern shore of the island of Florelandet, adjacent to t ...
on public service obligation with the
Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...
, using ATR 42 aircraft. In 2003, it lost the Florø contract, but regained the Fagernes route. From 1999, Coast Air started competing direct with the larger airlines on main routes, and introduced new regional and international services. From then on, the company continuously lost money. From 2004, it
wet-lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...
d aircraft to Vildanden, but the contract was canceled the following year. Following attempts to start new international route, Coast Air filed for bankruptcy in 2008.


History


Coast Aero Center

Coast Aero Center started operations in 1975 from Haugesund Airport. The company was a local mechanical and small-plane operator until 1984, when it started to apply for concessions to perform regional airline services in Norway. The company was owned and run by Asbjørn Utne. Following the 1984 decision by
Scandinavian Airlines System Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...
to discontinue their route from Haugesund to
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
in the United Kingdom, Coast Aero Center applied for the concession. They would use a 15-seat
Embraer Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max ...
that would be bought used for NOK 7.5 million. Coast Aero Center started their service on 20 August 1986, but it turned out to be unprofitable, and was terminated in April 1987. In October 1984, Coast Aero Center, along with
Norving Norving A/S was a regional airline that operated in Norway between 1971 and 1993. It had roots back to the establishment of Varangfly in 1959. At its peak, the company had eight bases and 27 aircraft. History Varangfly was founded on 24 July 1959 ...
and Fonnafly, applied for concession for the routes from Stord Airport, Sørstokken to
Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
,
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
and
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
. Coast Air was successful at receiving the concession, and service started on 12 August 1986 with a ten-seater Beechcraft Super King 200. In August, the company also received concession to fly from Stord via
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. ...
to Oslo. By March 1987, traffic had increased so much that the company instead put a larger, 20-seater Twin Otter aircraft into service. Additional concessions to fly to Haugesund were also granted the same year, as were direct services to Oslo, making the stops in Skien unnecessary. In 1985, the company joined the
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
Commuter Service, along with the other regional airlines
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 ...
, based in
Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...
, Trønderfly, based in
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
, and Norsk Flytjeneste, based in Sandefjord. The goal was to coordinate the services, and grow through newer, smaller routes. On 20 June 1986, Coast Aero Center was awarded the concession for flying from Stavanger to
Geilo Airport, Dagali Geilo Airport, Dagali ( no, Geilo flyplass, Dagali; formerly ; ) is a private airport located at Dagali in Hol in Viken county, Norway. It was previously a public airport that was both a regional airport and served international tourist charte ...
until 1991. The airline put into service a Beechcraft Super King 200. The ridership from Geilo turned out to be too low, and both Coast Aero Center and Norving terminated their routes. In 1986, the revenue was NOK 14 million and the company had 24 employees. That year, they chose to connect to the PNR/Smart booking system. In 1988, the company also bid for operating parts of the
Norwegian Air Ambulance The Norwegian Air Ambulance Service (Norwegian: ''Den norske luftambulansetjenesten'') is organised through the government owned limited company Luftambulansetjenesten HF (formerly ''Helseforetakenes Nasjonale Luftambulansetjeneste ANS''). The serv ...
. The company was thrown into financial distress on 7 February 1988, when
Den norske Creditbank Den norske Creditbank or DnC is a defunct Norwegian commercial bank created in 1857. In 1990 it merged with Bergen Bank to create Den norske Bank (DnB). The bank was based in Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most pop ...
(DnC) announced that they would not issue more credit. At the time the company had nine daily routes and 35 employees. All services were immediately suspended. It had a debt of NOK 23 million, of which DnC demanded NOK 13 million paid by 10 February; the bank later gave the company three weeks to find the capital. On 17 February, a proposal for refinancing was made, where the
hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
s were sold to the local municipalities, who would also make a guarantee for NOK 2 million. DnC would delete part of the debt, and additional capital would be granted from Kosmos-owned
Norsk Air Norsk Air was a Norwegian airline based at Sandefjord Airport, Torp. At its height from the mid-1980s and onwards it operated scheduled flights to Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim and Copenhagen, and for shorter periods also other Norwegian and inter ...
. This was not sufficient, and on 29 April Coast Aero Center filed for bankruptcy. Asbjørn Utne had to file for
personal bankruptcy Personal bankruptcy law allows, in certain jurisdictions, an individual to be declared bankrupt. Virtually every country with a modern legal system features some form of debt relief for individuals. Personal bankruptcy is distinguished from corporat ...
.


Reestablishment

Following the bankruptcy, the estate was purchased by Coast Air. In 1989, the new company received a one-year concession to operate from Haugesund to Bergen and Stavanger, and from Geilo to Oslo and Stavanger. The company used
de Havilland Canada Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarte ...
aircraft. The following year, Coast Air also received the concession for operating the subsidized routes to the newly opened
Fagernes Airport, Leirin Fagernes Airport, Leirin ( no, Fagernes lufthavn, Leirin; ) is a general aviation airport in Fagernes, in the municipality of Nord-Aurdal, Innlandet county, Norway. It has been an airport for passenger flights, serving Fagernes and the surroundin ...
. Six companies bid for the route, but only Coast Air and
Widerøe Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 40 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, and 3 Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, serves over 40 d ...
were deemed qualified; Coast Air could operate for NOK 2 million annually less than Widerøe, and therefore received the concession. Operation started on 3 September 1990, with the concession valid until 24 October 1993. In 1991, Coast Air flew 5,000 passengers to and from Fagernes Airport. With a NOK 6.8 million subsidy, it was the most expensive subsidized route per passenger in the country. This was largely due to a 20% cabin load. In August 1991, Coast Air received concession until 1993 for the route Haugesund–Bergen, but the Haugesund–Stavanger route was canceled. In March 1992, Coast Air was denied a concession to operate from Stord to Stavanger; instead, the concession was granted to Air Stord. Coast Air started flying from Skien Airport in 1993, with a route to Bergen. On 1 April 1994, the Norwegian airline market was
deregulated Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a ...
. Airlines no longer needed to apply for concession from the government, but could fly any route they wanted to. For the first time, several airlines could establish themselves on the same route. The exception was the state-subsidized regional routes, that would become subject to public service obligations (PSO) from 1 April 1997. Following the deregulation, Coast Air introduced a route from Bergen to
Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik Kristiansand Airport ( no, Kristiansand lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving Kristiansand Municipality in Agder county, Norway. The airport is located in the district of Tveit in the Oddernes borough, about by road and by air from th ...
with a
Jetstream 31 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the British ...
. From 1995, the airline was forced to pay much higher fees to the Norwegian Civil Aviation Administration, following the decision that all commercial plans, also those under , should pay flight fees. In October, Coast Air was close to buying Air Stord, but the company was instead sold to
Aker Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...
. In 1995, two new Jetstream 31 aircraft were delivered, and the Twin Otter aircraft were transferred to the new route between Stord and Stavanger. A third Jetstream was delivered the following year, and the Twin Otter was taken out of service.


Public service obligations

The state-subsidized regional airline contracts were made subject to PSO in 1996. In a trial tender for the Fagernes route. Five domestic airlines bid, and
Teddy Air Teddy Air AS was a regional airline, based at Skien Airport, Geiteryggen, in Norway. Operating between 1989 and 2004, the company operated Britten-Norman Islander, Embraer 110 and Saab 340 aircraft. The company started by providing a scheduled ...
won. Their bid was NOK 23.7 million, 15% lower than the former subsidy for Coast Air. In the main tender, the Ministry of Transport and Communications issued seven packages, of which Coast Air chose to bid for two—to the airports in
Namdal Namdalen ( sma, Nååmesjevuemie) is a traditional district in the central part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities Namsos, Grong, Overhalla, Røyrvik, Nærøysund, Høylandet, Flatanger, Lierne, Leka, and Namsskogan, all in Tr ...
and
Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet mountains and Svartise ...
, and to
Andøya Airport, Andenes Andøya is the northernmost island in the Vesterålen archipelago, situated about inside the Arctic circle. Andøya is located in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The main population centres on the island include the villages of ...
. All seven packages were won by the incumbent operator
Widerøe Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 40 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, and 3 Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, serves over 40 d ...
. The new tenders took effect on 1 April 1997, and lasted three years. Coast Air's first PSO contract was awarded in September 1999, on the route from
Florø Airport Florø Airport ( nn, Florø lufthamn, ) is a regional airport serving the town of Florø in Kinn Municipality, in the west central part of Vestland county, Norway. It is situated on the southern shore of the island of Florelandet, adjacent to t ...
to Oslo and Bergen. This required that the company put into service two 46-seat ATR 42–300 aircraft. It also caused a problem for Widerøe, who had their technical base for Western Norway at Florø. The company received NOK 51 million annually, from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2003; this resulted in there no longer being in intermediate stops from Florø to Bergen and Oslo. Color Air flew four or five daily trips to both Bergen and Oslo. The bid was about NOK 100 million lower than from Widerøe.
Saga Petroleum Saga Petroleum ASA was a Norwegian upstream petroleum company established in 1972 that was acquired by Norsk Hydro in 1999. In October 2007 it was made part of Statoil. The company was the only fully private oil company in Norway. It had partial ...
, who used Florø Airport as a helicopter base to fly their workers to offshore oil platforms, was critical to the use of the ATR 42 aircraft; while they were suitable for Florø, that has a runway, the planes would not be able to land at other airports in
Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 2020, a county in western Norway, when it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland, the cou ...
. In cases of bad weather, the oil company would now have to bus their passengers from Bergen and Ã…lesund, instead of much closer airports, such as
Førde Airport, Bringeland Førde is a former municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative center was the town of Førde which in 2016 had 10,255 inhabitants. Other villages in Førd ...
. In February 2000, Coast Air was hit by a strike regarding which of the pilots were to be recertified to fly the larger ATR 42 aircraft. The pilots insisted that seniority be used for selection, while management wanted to be able to choose themselves. Management also wanted to secure that all personnel that were recertified signed a three-year working contract with the company. Not until mid-March was the strike settled, after a compromise had been reached. In January 2000,
Braathens 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. ...
decided that it would terminate its service from Oslo to
Røros Airport Røros Airport ( no, Røros lufthavn; ) is a regional airport located from the town of Røros in Trøndelag county, Norway. The asphalt runway has the physical dimensions and is aligned 14/32. Scheduled services are provided to Oslo by Widerøe ...
, as well as reducing the number of flights between Haugesund and Bergen. Coast Air therefore announced it would increase the number of departures between Haugesund and Bergen, and at the same time was willing to fly to Røros if a state subsidy was granted. The contract to Røros was however won by
Danish Air Transport DAT Aktieselskab, A/S, formerly named ''Danish Air Transport'', is a Denmark, Danish airline headquartered in Vamdrup, Kolding Municipality, operating scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo flights mainly from airports in Denmark. History ...
(DAT), who bid NOK 500,000 per month, NOK 64,000 less than Coast Air. The demand for air travel dropped in 2001, and only 85,000 passengers flew with Coast Air to Florø, instead of the estimated 100,000, making the entire operation a loss for the company. Despite this, Coast Air leased a third ATR 42 aircraft in February 2002. But cancellations continued to rise, and in November the company's subsidies from the ministry were reduced due to lack of performance. In December 2001,
Guard Air GuardAir AS was a Norwegian airline which operated between 1992 and 2001. Based at Sandefjord Airport, Torp, it operated four Dornier 228s and served eight scheduled destinations in 2001. The airline was established with a Cessna 210 to search f ...
was forced to terminate all operations, and a new PSO tender was made for the services to Fagernes. Along with
Arctic Air ''Arctic Air'' is a Canadian drama television series that began airing on CBC Television on January 10, 2012. The series was canceled on March 17, 2014, due to government budgetary cuts. Synopsis ''Arctic Air'' is about a Yellowknife-based mav ...
, Widerøe and DAT, Coast Air made a bid. The contract was won by Arctic Air. With the next round of PSO contracts, valid from 1 April 2003 through 31 March 2006, Coast Air lost the Florø contract to DAT, but succeeded at winning the contract for Fagernes for NOK 10 million per year. Following the 2005 announcement of the PSO contracts from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2009, Coast Air was awarded three contracts. In addition to retaining the Fagernes route, it also received the concession for the Røros and Andenes routes. The three routes gave NOK 35 million in annual subsidies. Røros and Andenes would be served by ATR 42-aircraft, while Jetstreams would be used to Fagernes. From 30 January 2007, the company also started flying from Røros to Trondheim twice a week. From 1 April 2007, Coast Air canceled their flights to Andenes. Since the operations were separated from the rest of the network, it was not possible to fly profitably. Widerøe subsequently took over the route. During July 2007, Coast Air introduced the smaller Jetstream aircraft on the routes to Røros.


Financial problems

Following the loss of the Fagernes route, Coast Air relocated its services to the Bergen–Skien and the Haugesund–Aberdeen route in 1997. After Air Stord filed for bankruptcy in February 1999, Coast Air and Teddy Air both started flights from the airport to Oslo. Coast Air also expanded Kristiansand as a hub, with additional routes to Stavanger, Haugesund and
Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
in Sweden. In January 2000, the company announced that it was not making any money on the Kristiansand routes, and immediately terminated all four services. Coast air carried 50,000 passengers in 1999. After having made small profits ten years in a row until 1998, Coast Air had a loss of NOK 18.6 million and a revenue of NOK 40.5 million in 1999. To increase liquidity, the company sold two of its four Jetstream 31 aircraft. The establishment in the PSO market was expensive for Coast Air, and the airline lost NOK 9.7 million in 2000. To counteract, the company's owners chose to perform a private placement of NOK 7.5 million. By April 2001, the liquidity problems in Coast Air were so severe that the employees threatened to file for bankruptcy. Coast Air chose to terminate the Haugesund–Aberdeen route, and replace it with a service between Bergen and Aberdeen. With the Scandinavian Airlines System take-over of Braathens in May, Coast Air became the largest airline in the country not owned by the
SAS Group SAS AB (Scandinavian Airlines System Aktiebolag), trading as SAS Group, is an airline holding company headquartered in the SAS Frösundavik Office Building in Solna Municipality, Sweden. It is the owner of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines and S ...
. In 2003, the company chose to reintroduce the route between Stavanger and Geilo. Following
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
's establishment of a route from Haugesunnd to
London-Stansted London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acros ...
in 2003, Coast Air won the contract for ground services in competition with
SAS Ground Services SAS Ground Handling is Europe's third-largest full-service provider of aircraft ground handling and airport related services. SAS Ground Handling is the largest ground-handling company in Scandinavia. History As of July 1, 2010 SAS Ground Servic ...
. With the freeing up of aircraft after the 2003 PSO contract losses, Coast Air introduced and additional daily flight to Aberdeen. However, this was countered by Widerøe, who also started flying the route with Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. Coast Air also introduced three daily flights from Stord to Oslo. On 5 May, the company started flights between
Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget Kristiansund Airport ( no, Kristiansund lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving Kristiansund, Norway. It is situated at Kvernberget on the island of Nordlandet and is the sole scheduled airport serving Nordmøre. The airport features a ...
and
Trondheim Airport, Værnes Trondheim Airport ( no, Trondheim lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving Trondheim, a city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is located in Værnes, Trøndelag, Værnes, a vill ...
, after having received a NOK 150,000 subsidy from the Municipality of Kristiansund for marketing the route. The competition to Aberdeen proved to be too fierce, and Coast Air terminated operations in December. In September, the company ended in court with the labor union, regarding whether the company had promised them a fifth week of holiday in earlier negotiations; the company lost the court case. On 2 June 2003, Coast Air started its first head-on competition with Scandinavian Airlines. Using the ATR planes, Coast Air started with two daily round services between Haugesund and
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 ...
. By September, Coast Air increased to three daily round trips, and reduced prices to NOK 500. From 9 October, Scandinavian Airlines reduced their prices by 22% on the route. On 16 February, Coast Air also started competing with Braathens and Widerøe on the route between Stavanger and Bergen, marketing it as a low-fare service and ticket prices as low as NOK 199. The Haugesund–Oslo route cost Coast Air NOK 11 million in 2003. In March 2004, Coast Air was forced to close the Stord to Oslo route, after several reductions in frequency during the past year. To create more inertia on the Bergen–Stavanger route, Coast Air also started a cooperation with DAT, where the latter flew an extra daily round trip. Following the losses of the Haugesund–Oslo and Bergen–Stavanger routes, they were terminated in May 2004. In December, the
Norwegian Competition Authority Norwegian Competition Authority ( no, Konkurransetilsynet) is Norway, Norwegian etat, Government agency responsible for managing the ''Competition Act'' of 2004, including regulations imposed through the European Economic Community. This includes ...
started investigating Scandinavian Airlines for illegal price dumping on the Oslo–Haugesund route. The authority suspected that SAS had illegally cross-subsidized the route to fend off the competition, and announced the company would be fined NOK 20 million. The case ended in
Oslo District Court Oslo District Court ( no, Oslo tingrett) is a district court located in Oslo, Norway. This court is based at the Oslo Courthouse in the city of Oslo. The court serves the entire city of Oslo and the court is subordinate to the Borgarting Court of ...
, where Scandinavian Airlines was found not guilty. Though initially appealed by the authority, the matter was settled out-of-court in December 2007, in which the airline agreed that they had broken the law, but that since it happened just after the act came into power, they would not have to pay the fine.


Vildanden

On 23 November 2004, eighteen local investors founded the airline Vildanden to start scheduled flights from
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. ...
. For a long period, there had been a public debate about closing the airport. It was decided to operate the company as a virtual airline, and
wet lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...
operations from other companies. In October 2004, a contract was signed with Coast Air, who would operate a Jetstream 31 aircraft between Skien and Bergen. Coast Air also bought 20% of Vildanden. Skien Airport had then been closed since 2002, following the increased domestic and international traffic from near-by
Sandefjord Airport, Torp Sandefjord Airport, Torp ( no, Sandefjord lufthavn, Torp; ) is an international airport located northeast of Sandefjord, Norway and south of Oslo. The airport features a runway aligned 18/36. Torp partially serves as a regional airport for Ves ...
. Initial service would have 16 weekly departures to
Bergen Airport, Flesland Bergen Airport ( nn, Bergen lufthamn; ), alternatively Bergen Flesland Airport or simply Flesland Airport, is an international airport located at Flesland in the city and municipality of Bergen, Vestland, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the secon ...
. The main targeted market segment was the offshore petroleum industry, and the departure times were designed to meet helicopter routes to offshore installations. The company estimated that one quarter of travelers would be people commuting to 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 ...
.
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 ...
, who have a lot of employees in the
Grenland Grenland is a traditional district in the county of Vestfold og Telemark, in the south-east of Norway. Located in the southeastern part of the county, Grenland is composed of the municipalities Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, and Siljan. Sometimes the ...
area, stated that they could not start using Vildanden because they had an agreement to use
SAS Braathens SAS Braathens was the name of Norway's largest airline, created by a merger between Scandinavian Airlines' Norwegian division and Braathens in 2004. On June 1, 2007, the airline was integrated into mainline SAS, and changed its name to SAS Scandi ...
' services from Sandefjord. The first scheduled service flew on 24 January 2005, carrying eight passenger. On 19 April, a new
Jetstream 32 The British Aerospace Jetstream is a small twin-turboprop airliner, with a pressurised fuselage, developed as the ''Jetstream 31'' from the earlier Handley Page Jetstream. A larger version of the Jetstream was also manufactured, the Britis ...
aircraft was taken into service. This allowed capacity to increase from 12 to 19 passengers, and at the same time travel time was reduced from 47 to 39 minutes. By September, the most popular departures were being fully booked, and Vildanden asked Coast Air for a larger aircraft, with about 30 seats. In addition to allowing more passengers, larger planes would give higher comfort, and allow a more flexible ticket pricing scheme. An agreement with
Danish Air Transport DAT Aktieselskab, A/S, formerly named ''Danish Air Transport'', is a Denmark, Danish airline headquartered in Vamdrup, Kolding Municipality, operating scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo flights mainly from airports in Denmark. History ...
(DAT) to operate an
ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and ...
, with a capacity of 48 seats, was signed by Vildanden in mid October. To be able to breach the agreement with Coast Air—who still had a wet leasing contract, but were not able to put into operation a larger aircraft—the company Skien Lufttransport AS was created, and it purchased all the revenue and passenger rights from Vildanden. At the same time, it became the legal counterpart for DAT. The new aircraft was put into service on 31 October, branded with the Vildanden logo. Coast Air chose to continue operating the route between Bergen and Skien in their own name, and used the same aircraft and slot times. At Skien Airport, the Vildanden passengers were given the choice between Coast Air and Vildanden, and all nineteen chose Vildanden. On the return flight, three passengers chose each airline. Both aircraft flew to Skien, but due to heavy rain, only the aircraft from DAT was able to land. The passengers who had taken the Coast Air aircraft were instead forced to land at Sandefjord Airport. The following day, Coast Air terminated their flights, but stated that they still had an agreement with Vildanden. Skien Lufttransport on their hand stated that Vildanden was now a sleeping company, and that contract therefore was terminated. Both companies considered the incident a legal matter. In December, the two companies settled out of court.


Bankruptcy

Until 2004, Coast Air was owned by the
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
Kystfly AS (Norwegian for "Coast Air"), which was again owned by four people: Trygve Seglem through TS Invest, Harry Aase through Aase Invest, Asbjørn Utne and the Hystad family through Karmsund Maritime Invest. From 2001 to 2003, NOK 35 million were given in private placements to the company, but in February 2004, the Hystad family chose to withdraw from the corporation. At the time the company had 78 employees. By April the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, but private placements by Seglem and Aase meant the company could continue operating. However, the entire ATR 42-fleet would be sold, and Coast Air was to change focus to the wetleasing market with the Jetstream 31 aircraft. In August 2004, Seglem bought the entire company from the partners. After the reorganization, the company made a small profit in the last quarter of 2004. However, for the whole 2004, the company lost NOK 17.6 million. In September, Coast Air started flying the Stord–Oslo route again, using the ATR planes, following the termination by
Golden Air Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...
. On 19 November, Coast Air also started a route between Stord, Haugesund and Sandefjord once per week. In 2005, the company also introduced a flight between Haugesund and
Molde Airport, Årø Molde Airport ( no, Molde lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving the town of Molde, Norway. It is on the shore of the Moldefjord at Årø, east of town center. The airport's catchment area covers the district of Romsdal. The airport fe ...
. In February 2006, the company started flying twice a day from Sandefjord to Stockholm using the Jetstream aircraft. With increased traffic and the new PSO contracts, Coast Air received a third ATR 42 aircraft in April. Restructurization led to Coast Air dropping ground services, and from 1 May 2007, SAS Ground Services handled Coast Air's planes at Haugesund. The company also introduced in-flight breakfast on all ATR 42-flights. In addition, it started with two daily round trips from Haugesund to
Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup ( da, Københavns Lufthavn, Kastrup, ; ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark, Zealand, the Øresund Region, and southern Sweden including Scania. It is the second largest airport in the Nordic coun ...
in Denmark. The airline also introduced a business lounge for passengers traveling in Super Economy class. In November, another route was opened with two weekly round services from Stord to
Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
in Poland. On 23 January 2008, the board of Coast Air filed for bankruptcy. High costs made the owner Seglem lose faith in future profits. The company had lost more than NOK 100 million since 2001. It was Norway's fourth largest airline at the time. The company lost NOK 30 million in 2007, and Seglem was stated that he was tired of covering the losses of the company. He also felt that the agreement the company had with the pilots gave less working hours compared to the competitors
Norwegian Air Shuttle Norwegian Air Shuttle Aksjeselskap, ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norway, Norwegian Low-cost carrier, low-cost airline and Norway's largest airline. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe behind Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair, the ...
and
Danish Air Transport DAT Aktieselskab, A/S, formerly named ''Danish Air Transport'', is a Denmark, Danish airline headquartered in Vamdrup, Kolding Municipality, operating scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo flights mainly from airports in Denmark. History ...
, and the lack of understanding from the pilots made him give up. Half the 95 employees in the company were pilots. All the aircraft were owned by the mother company Kystfly, and there were no values in the estate. DAT offered to purchase the three ATR 42 aircraft, and hire part of the crew who lost their jobs as a consequence of the bankruptcy. Widerøe announced that it would take up the routes from Haugesund to Copenhagen. After an extraordinary PSO tender, Widerøe was awarded the flights to Røros, while Air Norway was awarded the flights to Fagernes. With the fall of Coast Air, Stord Airport was without any scheduled routes and income, and lost NOK 350,000 per month until a new service was in place. The routes to Stord were taken over by
Sun Air of Scandinavia SUN-AIR of Scandinavia A/S, usually shortened to SUN-AIR, is a Danish regional airline headquartered in Billund, with its main base at Billund Airport. It operates scheduled services as a franchise of British Airways using their name and corpor ...
, who operate
Dornier 328 The Dornier 328 is a turboprop-powered commuter airliner. Initially produced by Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH, the firm was acquired in 1996 by Fairchild Aircraft. The resulting firm, named Fairchild-Dornier, manufactured the 328 family in Oberpfaffe ...
aircraft on franchise from
British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...
.


Destinations

As of January 2008, Coast Air operated to the following destinations


References


External links


Coast Air
(archive)
Coast Air
(archive) {{Authority control Defunct airlines of Norway Airlines established in 1988 Airlines disestablished in 2008 1988 establishments in Norway 2008 disestablishments in Norway Companies based in Haugesund