Based at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Transwede initially flew Sud Aviation Caravelles, and from 1987 also McDonnell Douglas MD-80s.
After the Swedish domestic market was deregulated the following year, Transwede variously started services from Stockholm to Visby, Umeå, Luleå, Sundsvall, Malmö and Halmstad.
The airline initially bought two 109-seat Sud Aviation Super Caravelles and was contracted by Royal Tours.
[5] Those were used from 1987 onwards on charter services to various destinations, including from Stockholm via Oslo, Norway, and Gander, Canada, to Fort Lauderdale in the United States.
[7] At the time Linjeflyg and its parent Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) controlled virtually all domestic air traffic in Sweden, based on a monopoly granted through a series of government concessions.
[9] Transwede also signed an agreement with the Swedish Armed Forces to operate the first domestic charter service in Sweden, twice weekly from Gothenburg to Luleå Airport.
[12] Transwede applied in June 1990 to operate a scheduled service from Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö to London Gatwick Airport.
[13] International routes out of Scandinavia had since the 1940s been the domain of Scandinavian Airlines System, but in 1990 the Danish authorities granted domestic carrier Maersk Air the right to start a Gatwick service out of Copenhagen.
Transwede started the service eight times per week, using a single-class MD-83, offering prices 32 percent below SAS and British Airways.
They had bought a similar stake in Norway Airlines, who had received concession to operate an Oslo to Gatwick route.
[19] The airline's first domestic scheduled service commenced on 22 July 1992, between Stockholm and Visby Airport, serving the island of Gotland.
[21][22] In August Transwede started an interlining cooperation with Finnair, whereby the two coordinated their timetables and fed passengers into each other's networks.
[31] Transwede and SAS signed an interlining agreement in February 1994 to allow through tickets to be bought on multi-legged flights with both airlines.
[32] Weeks later Transwede announced a cooperation with Lufthansa, whereby the two would provide similar arrangements for flights between Sweden and Germany.
[39] Ownership of the charter division, initially named Transwede Leisure, soon passed to the major Swedish tour operator Fritidsresor.
[40] Braathens SAFE, the largest domestic carrier in Norway, entered negotiations in 1996 to purchase Transwede from its owners, Transpool.
[43] Braathens SAFE started flights from their main hub at Oslo Airport, Fornebu to Stockholm on 6 November [44] After three months, the airline had captured 14% of the Oslo–Stockholm market.
Immediately after take-off, at an altitude of 10 meters (33 ft), a fault with the elevator caused the nose to pitch down and the aircraft to land hard.