Norsk Air
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Norsk Air 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 the ...
airline based at
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 ...
. At its height from the mid-1980s and onwards it operated scheduled flights to
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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
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 for shorter periods also other Norwegian and international destinations. The airline had 156 employees and 150,000 annual passengers in 1989. The company was established as a sole proprietorship by Øyvind Skaunfelt as Vestfoldfly in 1961, after purchasing Thor Solberg's aviation school at
Tønsberg Airport, Jarlsberg Tønsberg Airport, Jarlsberg ( no, Tønsberg flyplass, Jarlsberg; ) is a general aviation airport located at Sem, Norway, Sem in Tønsberg, Norway. It consists of a asphalted runway and a taxiway. Jarlsberg is used for a variety of activities, i ...
. In addition to an aviation college, the company operated various charter services using mostly
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 ...
aircraft. The company split into a flying school and an airline in 1972, with the latter taking the name Norsk Flytjeneste. Three 50-passenger
Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...
were subsequently bought and were among other places flown with
aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...
charters to Bangladesh. Both the DC-6 and later charter flights with business jets proved unprofitable and were quickly terminated. The company turned to regular charter services to Bergen and Stavanger in the 1980s, and from 1984 served the routes with scheduled flights, using seven-passenger Beechcraft 200 King Air. In 1985 the company was converted to a limited company and bought by Kosmos. It subsequently acquired four 30-passenger
Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as a modular series ...
s—as the second European airline. It introduced several new routes, including international flights to Denmark and the United Kingdom, and took the name Norsk Air. The company bought
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 ...
's
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. ...
division in 1987 and started operations from a second base. Kosmos failed in 1988 and Norsk Air was eventually given for free to
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 ...
in 1990.
Skien Skien () is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county in Norway. In modern times it is regarded as part of the traditional region of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsj ...
operations were discontinued the following year and the airline changed name to Widerøe Norsk Air. It remained a subsidiary until being amalgamated in 1996.


History


Vestfoldfly

The airline was established as Vestfoldfly by Øyvind Skaunfelt in 1961. He had been working at Thor Solberg's aviation school at
Tønsberg Airport, Jarlsberg Tønsberg Airport, Jarlsberg ( no, Tønsberg flyplass, Jarlsberg; ) is a general aviation airport located at Sem, Norway, Sem in Tønsberg, Norway. It consists of a asphalted runway and a taxiway. Jarlsberg is used for a variety of activities, i ...
, and offered to purchase the school and airplanes when Solberg retired. Two years earlier, Sandefjord Airport, Torp had opened a civilian sector and Skaunfelt decided to establish his company there. In May 1961, he received government permission for commercial flying. He started a newspaper route 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 could also carry three passengers in his single-engined
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 ...
. The route continued onwards from Sandefjord to
Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...
,
Larvik Larvik () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. The municipality ...
and at
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. ...
. Vestfoldfly also started offering scenic trips and charter. During the summer, the airline also flew seaplanes south along the coast to
Kragerø Kragerø () is a List of cities in Norway, town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional regions of Grenland and the smaller Vestmar. ...
,
Risør is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located on the Skagerrak coast in the traditional region of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of Risør municipality is the town of Risør. There are many villages in Risør such as Akland, ...
and
Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...
. Other activities involved
crop dusting Aerial application, or what is informally referred to as crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific sp ...
of forest for
Felleskjøpet Felleskjøpet or FK is a Norwegian agricultural cooperative that serves as a retailer of agricultural operating equipment including animal food and seeds. It is also a wholesaler of grains. The corporation is organised into three separate indepe ...
. The airline also provided a target service for the military. Four aircraft were permanently used to tow a target about behind the aircraft, and military personnel would practice shooting at the target. During the 1960s, Vestfoldfly never received 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 ...
for a regular, scheduled flight from Sandefjord to Oslo. The reason was that the Skien-based
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 ...
held the concession for the routes from Oslo to Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Skien. Fjellfly never used its landing rights at Sandefjord, but nevertheless still hindered Vestfoldfly from starting a competing route. Skaunfelt eventually split his activity in two, demerging the aviation school and renaming it Den Norske Luftfartsskole, which remained in operation until 1999. The other activity was renamed Norsk Flytjeneste. In 1969, Norsk Flytjeneste and Jotun, a large Sandefjord-based industrial company, established Penguin Air Service, where Norsk Flytjeneste owned 25 percent of the shares. Penguin Air Service company bought a six-seat
Piper PA-31 Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engined aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also license-built in a number of Latin American countries. Tar ...
and started charter services for Jotun. In 1975,
Bugge Supplyship Bugge is a Norwegian surname and may refer to: People * Bugge Wesseltoft (born 1964), Norwegian jazz musician * David Buggé (born 1956), English cricketer and banker * Peder Olivarius Bugge (1764–1849), Norwegian bishop * Sophus Bugge (1833– ...
also joined the joint venture and a second aircraft was bought. Most of the traffic was for the oil industry to
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 ...
.


Norsk Flytjeneste

In 1972, Norsk Flytjeneste purchased two 50-passenger
Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...
Bs from
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. Fo ...
and leased one from
Sterling Airways Sterling Airlines A/S was a low-cost airline with its head office at Copenhagen Airport South in Dragør, Dragør Municipality, Denmark. It was created in September 2005 through the merger of two Danish airlines — Sterling European Airli ...
. They were used for domestic and international charter. The largest contract was from the
Norwegian Church Aid Norwegian Church Aid (NCA; Norwegian: ''Kirkens Nødhjelp'') is a Norwegian humanitarian and ecumenical organisation with headquarters in Oslo. It was traditionally affiliated with the state Church of Norway, but is now independent. Norwegian Chu ...
, who contracted Norsk Flytjeneste to fly
aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...
to Bangladesh. However, the airline failed to make money on the DC-6s, mostly because of the high operating costs, and sold them after a year. The company followed up with purchasing a ten-seat
Cessna Citation The Cessna Citation is a family of business jets by Cessna that started in 1972 with the entry into service of the first model. In the fifty years following the 1969 first flight, more than 7,500 Citations were delivered, forming the largest b ...
business jet that they offered in the charter market. However, the market was not large enough, and the jet was sold. The main market for the charter services was
Stavanger Airport, Sola Stavanger Airport ( no, Stavanger lufthavn; ), commonly just known as Sola, is an international airport located in Rogaland county, Norway. The airport is located southwest of the centre of the city of Stavanger inside the neighboring munici ...
, mainly serving transport of personnel in the oil industry. By the 1980s, Norsk Air had up to four daily round trips between the two cities. In 1983, the airline received concession to start a regular scheduled service to Stavanger. A ten-seat Beechcraft Super King Air was bought and services started on 12 January 1984. Services 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 ...
started on 10 July. Soon there were four daily round trips to both cities, supplemented by charter trips operated by Penguin. Starting on 26 March 1984, Norsk Flytjeneste experienced competition on the routes from Sandefjord to Bergen and Stavanger, when
Busy Bee Busy Bee was an airline which operated in Norway between 1966 and 1992. Entirely based around wet lease, it conducted a mix of regional services for larger airlines and the military, as well as corporate, ''ad hoc'' and inclusive tour charters. ...
, on contract with Braathens SAFE, started flights using 50-passenger
Fokker F27 The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Euro ...
s. However, they operated only one round trip, with the same aircraft serving Sandefjord–Stavanger–
Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...
–Bergen.Tjomsland, 2005: 102–105 In 1984, Norsk Flytjenesete started negotiations with the Sandefjord-based conglomerate Kosmos, who were seeking to invest in a local airline. Kosmos had decided to start a diversification strategy to spread their risk. Norsk Flytjeneste was at the time not making money on its routes, but Kosmos was willing to carry the loss as an investment. The airline was sold to Kosmos on 15 April 1985. At the time of the take-over, Norsk Flytjeneste had four
Cessna 310 The Cessna 310 is an American four-to-six-seat, low-wing, twin-engine monoplane produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the first twin-engine aircraft that Cessna put into production after World War II. Development The 310 first fle ...
s and one Piper Navajo. The airline's seven-passenger Beechcraft 200 and C90 King Airs were already owned by Kosmos. The company was changed from a sole propriatoriship to a
limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...
. Kjell Riege from Kosmos was appointed managing director while Tor Lundstrøm continued as chief pilot.


Norsk Air

On 30 July 1985, Norsk Flytjeneste opened their first international route, 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 concessions had a limitation on not using aircraft with more than ten seats. However the limitation was lifted later in the year.Tjomsland, 2005: 102–103 Under Kosmos' management, Norsk Flytjeneste started an aggressive expansion. Applications were made for concessions from Sandefjord to
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, and from Oslo via
Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...
and
Røros Røros ( sma, Plaassja, ) is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Some of the villages in Røros include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen. The minin ...
to
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 ...
. Norsk Flytjeneste also needed larger aircraft, and the airline evaluated several types, including the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, the 30-passenger
Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...
and the Fokker F27. The company chose to order four 30-passenger Brasilias. During the negotiations with Embraer, the company realized that Norsk Flytjeneste was a difficult name for foreigners, since the Brazilians could not pronounce "Flytjeneste". When the new aircraft were delivered, the airline rebranded as Norsk Air. The company also joined the joint venture Commuter Service along with other Norwegian regional airlines, Coast Aero Center,
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 ...
and Trønderfly. The intention was to create a cooperative company which could compete in a more diversified market. The group's lawyer stated that the organizational structure among regional airlines was 15 years out of date and that the group would take market shares in a growing market, especially by starting new niche direct services. Norsk Air was the second airline in Europe to order the Brasilia, after Air Excel. Three were financed with loans from Banco de Brasil and the last was
leased A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
. With the introduction of the Brasilias in 1986, the airline started a route from Sandefjord to
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 ...
. From 1985 to 1986, the airline's costs doubled, but not their income. In 1987, Terje Røsjode, former bank chief for
Christiania Bank Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse, branded domestically as Kreditkassen or K-Bank and internationally as Christiania Bank was a Norway, Norwegian bank that existed between 1848 and 2000 when it merger, merged with MeritaNordbanken and became Nordea ...
in Sandefjord, took over as managing director. The Brasilias had state-of-art technology, and although airlines purchase new aircraft to reduce their maintenance costs, this was not the reality for Norsk Air because they did not have sufficient competence to maintain the aircraft. In particular, they lacked sufficient electronic expertise, due to the increase of electronic components in the aircraft.Tjomsland, 2005: 112–114 All the other aircraft were sold. In 1986, the company established a
duty-free shop A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who ...
at Torp. By 1987, Norsk Air was losing NOK 20 million per year. The company established a route from Sandefjord to
Göteborg Landvetter Airport Göteborg Landvetter Airport () is an international airport serving the Gothenburg (Swedish: ''Göteborg'') region in Sweden. With just over 6.8 million passengers in 2018 it is Sweden's second-largest airport after Stockholm–Arlanda. Landvette ...
and to
London Stansted Airport 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 acro ...
, but neither were profitable, and were quickly terminated.Tjomsland, 2005: 128–130 Norsk Air started a route 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 ...
to Oslo and Bergen on 4 November 1987. The route turned out to be unprofitable, and was terminated on 1 June 1988, after the company had lost NOK 5 million on the route. To develop the company, Kosmos and Norsk Air bought the
Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...
-based airline
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 ...
, which also operated flights from Skien Airport, Geiteryggen—about one hour's drive from Sandefjord—to Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger. Norving had seven types of aircraft, but was losing large amounts of money, although 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 ...
covered their losses on some state-subsidized regional routes. The purchase of Norving caused an internal organization conflict between the two organizations. The operations from Skien were merged into Norsk Air, while the rest of Norving was sold. The latter went bankrupt in 1993. Norsk Air also showed interest in purchasing Widerøe, but none of the large owners were interested in selling.


Widerøe Norsk Air

Kosmos was bought by the Skaugen Group in 1988, and on 21 October, Kosmos' Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Bjørn Bettum 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 ...
and Chairman
Otto Grieg Tidemand Otto Grieg Tidemand (18 June 1921, Oslo – 10 June 2006, Oslo) was a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. He served as Minister of Defence from 1965 to 1970 and Minister of Trade and Shipping from 1970 to 1971. Military service Duri ...
were fired. The Skaugen Group decided to integrate Kosmos' shipping and oil-related activities into their group. All other investments, including Norsk Air, were to be sold or closed. At the time, Norsk Air had 140 employees. Norsk Air's CEO, Mr. Røsjodet, made contact with Bård Mikkelsen, who was CEO of Widerøe, to try to convince them to purchase Norsk Air. Widerøe was at that time solely occupied with flying on the subsidized regional routes. The company was interested in having some non-subsidized routes to better
benchmark Benchmark may refer to: Business and economics * Benchmarking, evaluating performance within organizations * Benchmark price * Benchmark (crude oil), oil-specific practices Science and technology * Benchmark (surveying), a point of known elevatio ...
its operations. The two largest owners,
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 ...
(SAS) and Braathens SAFE, did not want to purchase Norsk Air, but the third-largest owner, Fred. Olsen & Co. liked the idea, and bought SAS' and Braathens SAFE's 62.3 percent stake in Widerøe to make the deal possible. Other possible purchasers who had negotiated with Norsk Air were
Sterling Airlines Sterling Airlines A/S was a low-cost airline with its head office at Copenhagen Airport South in Dragør, Dragør Municipality, Denmark. It was created in September 2005 through the merger of two Danish airlines — Sterling European Airlin ...
,
Partnair Partnair A/S was a Norwegian charter airline which operated from 1971 to 1989. During the later 1980s it was Norway's fifth-largest airline by revenue, operating a fleet of three Convair CV-580 and six Beechcraft Super King Air. The airline was b ...
and Jan Einar Johansen, former owner of
Scandi Line A Scandinavian is a resident of Scandinavia or something associated with the region, including: Culture * Scandinavianism, political and cultural movement * Scandinavian design, a design movement of the 1950s * Scandinavian folklore * Scandinavi ...
. By 1989, the airline had 156 employees and 150,000 annual passengers. On 9 February 1989, Norsk Air's board decided to start the termination process if a sale was not made. The employees agreed to cut their wages 10 percent 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 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 ...
at the airport. Widerøe intended 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 Stokke is a town in Sandefjord municipality in Vestfold County, Norway. It lies in-between Sandefjord and Tønsberg, two of Vestfold's largest cities. It was a municipality from 1838 to 2016. The administrative centre of the municipality was the ...
, 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.Tjomsland, 2005: 150–159 Widerøe took over Norsk Air free of charge on 1 May 1989, 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 The Fokker 50 is a turboprop-powered airliner, designed as an improved version of the successful Fokker F27 Friendship. The Fokker 60 is a stretched freighter version of the Fokker 50. Both aircraft were manufactured and supported by Dutch airc ...
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 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 ...
to London. This route was terminated one year later. In 1993, Widerøe sold its Fokker 50 to
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 ...
. On 1 May 1996, Widerøe Norsk Air was merged with Widerøe and ceased to exist. After the merger, Widerøe phased out the Brasilias and replaced them with
de Havilland Canada Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...
aircraft.


Destinations

The following is a list of destinations served by Norsk Air in regular scheduled services. It includes the city, country, airport and the period in which the airline served the airport. Hubs are denoted with a dagger ().


References

;Bibliography * ;Notes {{Good article Defunct airlines of Norway Airlines established in 1961 Airlines disestablished in 1996 Companies based in Sandefjord Widerøe Sandefjord Airport, Torp 1961 establishments in Norway 1996 disestablishments in Norway