Which was established as an air taxi operator in 1962, is reformed in 1974 and renamed Hadag Air, GmbH. The decision is taken late in the decade to begin scheduled commuter services employing a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and Cessna lightplanes. Flights are initiated linking the company base with Dortmund, Helgoland, Westerland, Sylt, and Wyk.
Operations continue apace during the remainder of the decade and into the next with little change. In April-May 1978, the company provides replacement service for Stuttgart-based Delta Air Region-alflugverkehr GmbH. & Co. until that new commuter is able to obtain its own Twin Otter.
Passenger enplanements fluctuate during the difficult years of recession and fuel price increases; boardings total 11,347 in 1981 and 10,612 in 1982.
In an effort to increase bookings, the company is reformed in 1983 and renamed Holiday Express, GmbH.; it begins scheduled international flights to Rotterdam.
HAGELAND AIR (HAGELAND AVIATION SERVICES): P. O. Box 195, St. Mary’s, Alaska 99658, United States; Phone (907) 4382246; Fax (907) 438-2435; Code H6; Year Founded 1992. Hageland is established at Anchorage in 1992 to offer scheduled and charter flights to regional destinations. A three-person workforce is recruited for this airline division of president Ron Tweto’s Hageland Aviation Services and revenue flights commence with five Cessna 207As and one each C-185, C-402C, and Beech 18 freighter. Enplanements total 7,000.
Passenger boardings in 1993 skyrocket 97% to 12,314.
Scheduled customer bookings climb 22% in 1994 to 14,976, while an additional 17,676 charter travelers are also flown.
Despite earlier success, neither the workforce nor the fleet grows in 1995. Enplanements soar another 67% to 25,078.
Flights continue apace in 1996. While transporting dog food supplies in support of the Iditarod Sled Race on March 13, a Cessna 185 is unable to locate its normal landing site near Cripple, Alaska, because of a recent snowfall. The pilot elects to land on an ice-covered creek, but the aircraft lands hard and slides into spruce pine at the end of the landing area. Uninjured, the flyer’s plane is badly damaged.
While en route from Bethel to Marshall via Russian Mission and Em-monak on a November 30 moose-count survey, a Cessna 185 with a pilot and a state naturalist, disappears. When the wreck site is found near the Yukon River, there are no survivors.
Passenger boardings surge upward 59.1% to 39,892.
While en route from Barrow to Wainwright on April 10, 1997, Flight 502, a Cessna 402B with a pilot and four passengers, crashes into the frozen Arctic Sea while maneuvering near its destination; there are no survivors.
Beginning its taxi from the ramp at Buckland for a September 8 service to Noorvik, a Cessna 402C with a pilot and six passengers, collides with a parked Bering Air Cessna 208B, with a pilot and nine passengers; no injuries are reported and damages are slight.
Just after landing at Kivalina on September 14, Flight 916, a Cessna 402C with a pilot but no passengers, suffers the collapse of its nose landing gear; although the flyer is not injured, substantial damage is sustained.
The company’s incredibly unlucky year continues on November 8. While climbing away from Barrow on an evening service to Wain-wright, a Cessna 208B with a pilot and seven passengers stalls and plunges into the Arctic Ocean 1/2 mi. W of the runway; there are no survivors.
At the end of the year, the fleet comprises 18 Cessna 207As, 4 C-402s, 3 C-208 Caravan Is, 1 C-172, and the Beech 18. These fly a total of 53,939 passengers, a 35.2% increase over the previous year.
Service is maintained without incident in 1998. Customer bookings plunge 17.7% to 44,000.
Passenger boardings turn around in 1999 and increase 47.8% to 66,000.
Flights continue in 2000. Flight 71, a Cessna 207A with a pilot and four passengers, fails its takeoff from Tuluksak for a February 7 service to Bethel. Although the aircraft is badly damaged, no one aboard is hurt.
World History
