History of Braathens SAFE (1946–1993)

It started as a charter airline based at Oslo Airport, Fornebu in Norway, flying to destinations in the Far East and in South America.

The company also entered the domestic and international charter market during the 1960s, an industry where the airline would eventually grow to become a large Norwegian and Swedish contestant.

[2] Braathens had made good money during World War II with the participation in the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission, and received permission to use US$1 million to purchase aircraft.

[6] The regular services could be done with a round trip time of nine to ten days, including overnighting in Cairo, Karachi and Bangkok, and with technical revision of the plane in Hong Kong.

In 1947, Braathens SAFE flew twenty-five trips to Hong Kong, five to New York and one to Johannesburg, South Africa, making a profit of NOK 750,000.

The airline had to follow the route Oslo or Stavanger – Amsterdam – Geneva – Rome – Cairo – Basra – Karachi – Bombay – Calcutta – Bangkok – Hong Kong.

For a merger to be completed, Danish and Swedish authorities required that SAS be granted all international routes from Norway, meaning that Braathens SAFE would lose its concession from 1 March 1954.

In 1951, the company applied to purchase two Super Constellations to replace two sold DC-4s, which was granted, and on 14 January 1953 for an extension of the concession for another ten years.

[12] In 1952, the Icelandic airline Loftleidir was granted the concession to fly from Keflavík Airport outside Reykjavík to New York and Chicago in the United States, and to Oslo, Copenhagen and London.

In 1953, Braathens SAFE stated that to keep their 210 employees and fleet of one DC-4, one DC-3 and two Herons, they would have to receive future domestic services, to compensate for more than 90% of their revenue disappearing with the loss of the Far East route.

Ålesund Airport, Vigra was scheduled to open in 1958, and both Braathens SAFE and SAS applied for the concession, along with the route along the West Coast.

That year, the right-winged Borten's Cabinet was appointed; Braathens SAFE therefore again applied for an extension of the West Coast route to Tromsø and Bodø.

[29] During the 1950s, the main customers for charter flights had been Norwegian shipping companies, who flew their crew home from ports in Central Europe.

In 1959, Saga Tours was created as the first travel agency for Mediterranean charter trips, and the company started a cooperation with Braathens SAFE.

Braathens SAFE applied in a joint venture with the Norwegian America Line to start a cargo flight to the United States and the Far East, but this was declined by the ministry.

By 1977, there were nine international charter airlines competing with Braathens SAFE: Aviaco, Britannia Airways, Dan-Air, Linjeflyg, Maersk Air, Scanair (owned by SAS), Spantax, Sterling and Transair.

[38] Prior to the opening of Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget, Braathens SAFE applied for a concession to fly to it along the West Coast, as well as the direct route from Oslo.

When the matter was passed by parliament, they also granted SAS the right to fly from Oslo to Stavanger, even if their planes did not continue abroad.

F-28 LN-SUY Sverre Sigurdson on Flight 239 from Ålesund to Oslo crashed at Asker, killing 40 of the 45 people on board, including the crew of three.

From 1 January 1976, Braathens SAFE introduced "Green Routes", where passengers were granted 35% discount if they traveled on Saturdays or Sunday morning, booked a round trip and were away for at least a full week or over a weekend.

This gave increased revenue, but the company had to start compensating rejected passengers with a full refund and a free seat on the next flight.

Using so large aircraft on the short-haul flights in Southern Norway gave little economy-of-scale, and the airline seldom needed the increased capacity.

[58] On 21 June 1985, the 737-200 LN-SUG Harald Gille, with 121 passengers en route from Trondheim to Oslo, was hijacked by the 24-year-old Stein Arvid Huseby.

[63] The applications were rejected and it was agreed upon that SAS would retain all rights to fly internationally between Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Århus.

[69] In 1992, Busy Bee filed for bankruptcy; the company's fleet of three Fokker 50s were transferred to the newly established Norwegian Air Shuttle, which started wet-leased operations along the West Coast for Braathens SAFE.

[71] At the time, Denmark was a member of the European Union (EU), while Sweden and Norway had applied and were awaiting referendums to determine membership.

In preparation for this, Braathens SAFE started negotiations with Linjeflyg of Sweden and Maersk Air of Denmark to create an alliance to compete with SAS.

[72] From 23 October 1992, the Norwegian Armed Forces stopped chartering aircraft and started using scheduled flights to fly 240,000 personnel annually.

[76] The initial agreement secured Braathens Helikopter a revenue of NOK 800 million in the course of five years, and gave the company a 20% market share.

However, the ministry 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.