NORDAVIAFLUGGESELLSCHAFT, mbH.: Innocentiastrasse 32, Hamburg 13, D-20144, Germany; Phone (49) 40-44-00-40; Fax (49) 40-45-84-33; Http://www. nordavia. com; Code NIA; Year Founded 1976. Helmut Heidemann forms Nordavia at Hamburg in 1976 to offer regional passenger and cargo air taxi services. Revenue flights commence and continue with a fleet of 2 Piper PA-31T Cheyennes and 1 Beech King Air 90.
Over the next two decades, the company expands its services to include not only regular charters, but VIP flights, ambulance service, and the transportation of animals as well.
The fleet in 1997 includes 1 each Beech King Air C90, Beech Super King Air 200, and Cessna Citation III.
At the beginning of 1999, Nordavia posts a homepage on the Internet’s World Wide Web.
NORDESTE (NORDESTE LINHAS AEREAS REGIONALS, S. A.): Avenida Dom Joao VI 259, 259 Britas, Salvador, Bahia, 400000, Brazil; Phone 55 (71) 244-7533; Fax 55 (71) 244-7770; Http://www. nordeste. com; Code JH; Year Founded 1976. On November 12, 1975, the Brazilian government establishes the Sistema In-tegrado de Transportes Aereas Regional, a system calling for the formation of five regional airlines to provide third-level feeder service to outlying areas. A promise of subsidy is made, based on a 3% surcharge on tickets sold on trunk routes.
Nordeste is formed on June 9, 1976 as a joint venture between the government of the State of Bahia (67% interest) and Transbrasil, S. A. (Linhas Aereas) (33% interest) to provide scheduled services throughout the San Francisco Basin in the northeast of Brazil. Employing a fleet of 5 Brazilian-made Embraer EMB-110Cs and a Fokker F.27 based, respectively, at Salvador and Belo Horizonte, the new entrant inaugurates service on June 15 over several routes previously flown by Transbrasil—Salvador to Recife via Petrolina and Paulo Afonso and Salvador to Barreiras via Lapa.
An EMB-110C with two crew and four passengers crashes at Petrolina, on October 28 (two dead).
Another EMB-110C is lost at Bocaiuva, Brazil, on November 4, 1978; there are no other detains concerning the accident.
The route network is expanded rapidly during the remainder of the decade and into the 1980s. Enplanements decline steadily during the first 4 years of the new decade, respectively totaling: 106,025; 94,353; 79,966; and 64,570.
By 1985, the carrier is providing scheduled passenger services to over 30 destinations in the following states: Bahia, Maranhao, Minas Gerais, Parai, Pernambuco, Piaui, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sao Paulo, as well as the Federal District of Brasilia. With the Friendship withdrawn, the Embraer fleet is increased to eight.
An EMB-110C freighter with two crew fails its takeoff from Vitora da Conquista on October 9 and crashes two km. SE of the runway; both flyers are killed.
Passenger boardings decline to 62,444.
In March 1986, Brazil’s Departamento de Aviacao Civil is forced to intervene to keep the airline from collapsing. At the time of the DAC takeover, it is discovered that, for the past several years, the airline’s management has failed to file tax forms, balance company books, and has even embezzled airline funds. Additionally, it is found that maintenance records have not been kept.
Led by Marketing Manager Fernando Arajo, remaining company officials and government executives seek to restore the nation’s northeastern regional. Meanwhile, Otto Lima, owner of an air taxi operation, puts together a group of businessmen who seek to purchase the carrier and end up in court contesting ownership with the State of Bahia.
Customer bookings for the first 11 months of the year rebound by 40% to 79,551.
In 1987-1988, the route system is reduced to 26 stops and the fleet includes 8 EMB-110s. During the latter year, passenger boardings jump 16.2% to 111,932.
Airline employment in 1989 stands at 258. The fleet now includes 4 EMB-110Cs, 1 EMB-110E, 2 EMB-110Ps, 3 EMB-110P1s, and 1 each EMB-110P2 and EMB-110S1. Options are taken on 3 EMB-120 Brasilias.
Customer bookings increase 55.1% to 74,891 during the first 6 months, the time period for which statistics are publicized.
Airline employment stands at 258 in 1990 as the EMB-110E Ban-deirante is withdrawn.
Data is again given for the first half and shows that passenger boardings are down 0.7% to 74,346.
The payroll grows by 16.3% in 1991 to 300. A $23-million order is placed for three EMB-120 Brasilias as three more EMB-110P1s are acquired.
Enplanements are only reported for the first 9 months and show boardings down 9.4% to 108,448.
An EMB-110P1 with 3 crew and 12 passengers fails its initial climb away from Episepe on November 11, strikes electrical wires and the roof of a house, and crashes into a public square; all aboard the turboprop are killed, along with 2 other people on the ground.
While en route from Salvador on February 3, 1992, an EMB-110C with 2 crew and 10 passengers descends below minimum altitude in bad weather and crashes into cloud-shrouded Taquari Hill at Caitite; there are no survivors.
President Roberto Coelho’s 300-employee carrier reports statistics for the first 9 months. These show customer bookings off by 55.9% to 47,821. During the year, orders are placed for 3 50-seat Fokker 50s. The first Brasilia, a leased unit, arrives in December.
By 1993, the fleet comprises 12 EMB-110s and the leased EMB-120. Destinations visited from Salvador includes 26 locations, mostly in northeastern Brazil: Aracaju, Barreiras, Belo Horizonte, Belmonte, Bom Jesus da Lapa, Brasilia, Caravelas, Fernando de Noronha, Governador Valaderes, Guanambi, Itheus, Ipatinga, Maccio, Montes Claros, Natal, Porto Seguro, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Teofilo Otoni, and Vitoria da Conquista.
The first owned Brasilia enters service in March and two more EMB-120 s arrive later, one each in July and September.
Although two Brasilias are cut from the fleet in 1994, one more Ban-deirante is added. Operations continue apace and arrangements are completed for the company’s purchase, for $7 million, by Rio-Sul (Servi-cios Aereos Regionais, S. A.), which announces that it will absorb the commuter by the following March. It also agrees to take over the Fokker 50 order.
Traffic figures are reported for the first quarter and show passenger boardings of 24,917. Later, it is revealed that revenues for the year as a whole are $13 million.
The decision to absorb Nordeste into Rio-Sul is not implemented and the regional continues to operate as a subsidiary after the announced March 1995 merger date. Two Fokker 50s are delivered in May and June.
Airline employment now stands at 300. Traffic figures are again reported only for the first quarter and show a 34.5% increase in customer bookings to 38,041. For the whole year, revenues skyrocket 166.7% to $39.2 million, but a $916,936 net loss is suffered.
There is no change in the workforce during 1996. Enplanements through June skyrocket 128.1% to 169,371.
Just after landing at Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil, on December 24, an EMB-120RT with 3 crew and 28 passengers veers off the side of the runway and collides with a light pole. There are no fatalities.
The fleet in 1997 includes 2 leased Fokker 50s, 3 chartered and 1 owned EMB-120s, and 7 Bandeirantes. The company’s first jetliner, a
Two former Cathay Pacific
1 TriStars are leased in 1995. range of its charters, reaching Mallorca and Tenerife.
The following year, 1996 , is Air Operations of Europe, A. reducing its chartered fleet to 4Y0. Plans are made to change the new year.
Boeing 737-548, arrives under lease from Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd.
From hubs at Belo-Horizonte and Salvador, the carrier visits the following markets in northeast Brazil: Aracaju, Barreiras, Belmonte, Born Jesus da Lapa, Brasilia, Caravelas, Fernando de Noronha, Governador Valaderes, Guanambi, Ilheus, Ipatinga, Maceio, Montes Claros, Natal, Porto Seguro, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Teofilo Otoni, and Virotia da Conquista.
The Brasilian Department of Civil Aviation (DAC) indicates on December 30 that it will begin to institute domestic airfare deregulation in January.
Flights continue in 1998. On December 30, the Brazilian DAC scraps its last regulations over passenger airline fares, a year to the day after it had launched domestic deregulation. DAC does, however, indicate that it will remain vigilant to abuse, including dumping, cartels, monopolies, and predatory pricing. As domestic competition stiffens, additional alliances with foreign airlines are expected.
Service is maintained during 1999. AB-737-5Y0, previously operated by Air Pacific, Ltd. is acquired on November 4 and joins the 2 B-737-53As, 6 Brasilias, and 3 Fokker 50s already in the fleet. Enplanements for the year total 359,802.
A total of 402 workers are employed at the beginning of 2000. During June, a restructuring of VARIG Brazilian Airlines (Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandeuse, S. A.), begun in the first quarter, continues. A new holding company, FRB-Par, is created for the VARIG business group, with VPTA and VPSC becoming two of its three subsidiaries, with the original holding company, VARIG Brazil, named the third. The group’s first charter organization, Rotatur, is incorporated, while the subsidiary carriers Nordeste and Rio-Sul (Empresa Rio-Sul Servicos Aereos Re-gionals, S. A.) are granted their independence from VARIG and are placed under the control of VPTA.
NORDIC AIRLINK, A. B.: Umea Flygplats, Umea, S-90422, Sweden; Phone 090 71 63 63; Fax 090 14 22 71; Http://www. nordicairline. se; Year Founded 2000. Privately owned Nordic Airlink is established at Umea in late summer 2000 to operate scheduled return passenger services from Osterund to Lulea via Umea. Revenue flights duly commence in the fall with a single SAAB 340 leased from Crossair, Ltd.
At the end of the year, plans are made to replace the first Swiss SAAB with a second and to charter from Crossair a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 with which to operate long-haul charters.
NORDIC EAST AIRWAYS, A. B.: Sweden (1991-1997). Nordic is established at Stockholm (Arlanda Airport) in 1991 to provide charter and inclusive-tour flights to regional, North African, Mideast, and Mediterranean destinations. Managing Director Gunnar Ohlsson, who is also the principal shareholder, begins revenue operations with a single Douglas DC-9-41 leased from SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System).
A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 is chartered from SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) in 1992 followed by a Boeing 737-205 leased from Braathen’s SAFE, A. S. in 1993.
Company aircraft are often wet-leased to other northern European airlines that are themselves in need of greater capacity during either the winter or summer holiday season. In June of the latter year, a 50% interest is taken in the new Greek charter carrier Venus Airways, S. A.
Nordic East begins scheduled regional flights in 1994 with a leased fleet that now comprises 1 each B-737-205, B-737-3Q8, B-737-3Y0, DC-9-41, and MD-83. A DC-8F is briefly chartered as the company unsuccessfully attempts to open all-cargo services from Stockholm to the Middle East.
During the summer, the decision is taken to become an all-Boeing operator and the DC-9 and MD-83 are withdrawn. A new B-737-4Y0 is leased and assigned during the summer to operate exclusively on behalf of LTU International Airlines (Lufttransport Unternelhmman, GmbH.). The company also operates replacement services on behalf of Transwede Airways, A. B.
Airways (Pty.), Ltd. Lockheed L-1011-These allow the company to expand the the Spanish holiday islands of Palma de
A hard one for Swedish charter operators. B. fails and Nordic is forced to cut back, 1 each TriStar, B-737-3Q8, and B-737-the corporate identity at the beginning of
NORDIC EUROPEAN AIRLINES INTERNATIONAL, A. B.: Sweden (1997-1998). Originally established at Arlanda Airport in 1991 as Nordic East Airways, A. B., the company is renamed at the beginning of 1997. President Carl-Johan Stahle employs a 300-person workforce and with the beginning of the European summer flying schedule at the end of March, scheduled and charter passenger services continued to domestic, regional, and international destinations. Flight equipment continues to consist of 1 each leased Boeing 737-3Q8, B-737-4Y0, and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1.
The holiday charter business is not profitable for Nordic European this year, despite its name change and a new effort to visit additional cities in Central Europe. Consequently, on February 19, 1998, the company is forced to announce a curtailment of its operations. The schedule is significantly reduced and efforts are made to reorganize Unhappily, company executives are unable to raise sufficient capital to keep going and on March 4, all flights end. The grounded airline is quickly liquidated.
NORDSJOFLY, A. S.: Norway (1975-1987). Organized at Avaldsnes in March 1975, Nordsjofly is initially equipped with a fleet comprising 1 Beech King Air 100, 1 Piper PA-31-310 Navajo, 1 Navajo PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain, and 1 Beech B-55 Baron. Scheduled services are inaugurated in June linking Haugesund with Stavanger and Farsund.
Services continue during the remainder of the decade and the fleet is enhanced by the addition of a Fairchild-Swearingen Metro II and a Beech 99.
The increase in fuel prices and the world recession combine in the early 1980s to depress traffic to a point where, in 1983, the company is taken over by Norving, A. S., which continues its operation as a subsidiary.
By 1986, General Manager Th Wegner Simonsen’s fleet comprises 2 Beech 99s, 1 Piper Navajo Chieftain, 3 Navajos, and the Metroliner. The company is absorbed into its parent in 1987.
NORDUFLUG H. F.: Iceland (1959-1974). Tryggvi Helgasson establishes Norduflug H. F. at Akureyri Airport on November 1, 1959. Employing a small fleet of Piper Aztecs, the company undertakes air taxi, air ambulance, and passenger and cargo charters to various destinations around Iceland.
In the early 1960s, a PA-31-310 Navajo is acquired and is employed to inaugurate weekly scheduled services to Grimsey and twice-weekly flights to Vopnafjordur. When the carrier is reformed on May 1, 1974, Flugfelag Islands, H. F. (2)/Icelandair acquires 35% shareholding and the corporate name is changed to Flugfelag Nordurlands, H. F.
NORFOLK AIRWAYS, LTD.: United Kingdom (1950-1970). James G. Crampton and D. Burgess form NAL as a charter carrier at Swanton Morley Aerodrome in March 1950. An American-made Fairchild F-24W is acquired and ad hoc services are initiated, although at year’s end. Operations are conducted during the summers of the 1950s, primarily with a fleet of Austers.
A Piper PA-23 Aztec is purchased in July 1962, the same month in which the company is formally registered as an air carrier. Capitalized at ?30,000, Crampton assumes the duel post of chairman/managing director. During the 1960s, the company flies ad hoc contracts for a variety of concerns, including the Norwich Union Assurance group, as well as government aerial surveys.
Other light aircraft employed during the decade include 2 Cessnas, 1 Beech B-55 Baron, 1 Dove I leased for a year from Cardinal Airways, Ltd., 1 Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche, and 3 additional Aztecs. A founding interest is taken in Rig-Air, Ltd. in November 1969 and in August 1970 Norfolk Airways, Ltd. joins that carrier and Anglian Air Charter, Ltd. in a merger that results in Air Anglia, Ltd.
NORFOLK ISLAND AIRWAYS (PTY.), LTD.: Australia (19731991). NIA is created at Brisbane in 1973 to fly a Beech B-55 Baron on nonscheduled charters over the 800 nm. to Norfolk Island. On August 1, 1975, the carrier is registered as a scheduled commuter airline. Employing a new Beech Super King Air 200, it inaugurates regularly scheduled flights to the island from the Queensland capital beginning on November 1.
A frequency to Lord Howe Island is started in 1976. Other destinations added during the remainder of the decade include Coolangatta, Newcastle, and Sydney. Charter opportunities are also flown.
In 1981, General Manager L. Friedman’s 18-employee carrier possesses a fleet of 2 Super King Air 200s that fly a total of 6,405 passengers on the year. Boardings increase to 10,102 in 1982 but in the face of recession, fall back to 8,586 in 1983.
By 1987, M. S. Childs is general manager; the fleet this year comprises four Super King Air 200s and Cairns is added to the route network. A Gates Learjet 35 is acquired in 1988 as flights are started to Darwin.
Additional expansion occurs in 1989 as Alice Springs and Melbourne become company destinations. The fleet is upgraded by the addition of another Learjet and a de Havilland Canada DHC-8; two Super King Air 200s are withdrawn. The parent corporation, Norfolk Airlines Group, Ltd., now becomes a public company. This forward momentum collides with recession and higher fuel costs in 1990, bringing such severe financial difficulties that the carrier is forced to cease operations in March 1991.
NORFOLK JET EXPRESS (PTY.), LTD.: 97 Creek St., Brisbane, Queensland, 4000, Australia; Phone (07) 3221-6677; Code NC; Year Founded 1997. NJE is established at Brisbane during the first quarter of 1997 to operate scheduled return services from Norfolk Island to Sydney and Melbourne. Employing a single wet-leased Boeing 737-4L7, daily roundtrips are inaugurated in May between Brisbane and Sydney; weekly roundtrips to Melbourne are also started.
A code-sharing agreement is signed with Qantas Airways (Pty.), Ltd. in 1998 and the carrier begins to share an AVRO RJ70 with Australian Airlink (Pty.), Ltd.
John Carlos is general manager in 1999-2000 as the workforce grows to 15. Wet-leased aircraft, including a Qantas Airways (Pty.), Ltd. B-737-476, continue to be employed on the frequencies from Norfolk Island to the Australian mainland.
NORIISK AIRLINE: 7 Sevastopolskaya Str., Noriisk, Krasnoyaesk Region, 663310, Russia; Phone 7 (3832) 282 400; Code CZG; Year Founded 1992. The Aeroflot Soviet Airlines Noriisk division is reformed in 1992. Under the leadership of Comdr. Grigori Titar, the newly independent carrier continues its previous mission of providing support to the region’s mining industry. Helicopter work and fixed-wing charters are launched with a fleet that will soon total 6 Antonov An-12s, 21 An-2s, 7 An-26s, 3 An-74s, 5 Mil Mi-6s, and 30 Mi-8s.
By 1999-2000 , the propeller aircraft have been reduced in number to 6 An-12s, 6 An-26s, and 1 An-74.
NORIS DINAN AVIATION (PTY.), LTD.: 16 James Schofield Drive, P. O. Box 696, North Adelaide, South Australia, 5006, Australia; Phone 61 (08) 8234 4444; Fax 61 (08) 8234 4411; http:// camtech. com. au/nda; Year Founded 1995. Noris Dinan is established at Adelaide Airport in May 1995 to provide a wide range of rotary-wing services to Adelaide and the South Australia region.
Employing a fleet of Bell 206B JetRangers, the company begins and continues to provide passenger charter flights, media helicopter services, mining surveys and sampling, geophysical surveys, transmission line and pipeline surveys and inspections, industrial lift capability (sling loads), banner - and flag-towing, and aerial surveys and photography.
NORMAN EDGAR (WESTERN AIRWAYS), LTD.: United Kingdom (1933-1938). Under contract to the chocolate makers J. S. Fry and Sons, Norman Edgar’s de Havilland DH 80A Puss Moth, flown by
W. N. L. Cope, launches express service from Somerdale (Somerset)-London (Heston) on September 13, 1932. On September 26, flying a DH 83 Fox Moth, pilot Cope initiates twice-daily Bristol-Cardiff trans-Bristol Channel passenger flights. After a year of ad hoc flight operations, Norman Edgar (Western Airways), Ltd., is officially registered on September 7, 1933; initial capitalization is ?7,500.
Flying a new de Havilland DH 84 Dragon, pilot C. R. Cubitt begins summer service on May 17, 1934 by extending the Bristol route to Bournemouth; flights continue until September 30. New weekend on-demand DH 84 operations are begun on May 3, 1935 from Cardiff and Bristol to Paris via Le Touquet. Retaining the same board of directors, Western Air Transport, Ltd. is formed on December 12.
For the summer season, 14-times-per-day Cardiff to Weston-super-Mare flights are begun on May 31,1936; frequency is reduced in October. Birmingham to Weston-super-Mare service is begun in July 1937.
A year later, on July 27, 1938, the Cardiff to Weston-super-Mare route is extended to Swansea. On October 2-3, a Cardiff to Weston-super-Mare frequency is offered at night—the first regularly scheduled British domestic night service. The Straight Corporation purchases control of the carrier on October 18, and it is renamed Western Airways, Ltd.
NOROESTE (AVIACION DEL NOROESTE, S. A. de C. V.): Mexico (1988-1996). Based at Hermosillo, Sonora, Noroeste is created in 1988 to provide scheduled, third-level passenger and cargo services throughout northwest Mexico. Operations commence with a single Fokker F.27 Friendship. Three Avions de Transport Regional ATR42-320s arrive in
1989-1990 to operate regional flights from the west coast to Monterrey.
Orders are placed in 1991 for two British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31s, which, due to the recession, are not delivered. Still, the company becomes a Mexicana Inter commuter partner of Mexicana Airlines, S. A. de C. V. and begins to employ a Boeing 737-5Y0 leased from GPA Group.
In 1992, the company returns its Boeing and switches its affiliation to the nation’s new third-largest airline, TAESA (Transportes Aereos Ejecutivos, S. A. de C. V.). President Rodolfo Rohde’s fleet does grow by 1993 through the addition of another Fokker F.27.
TAESA purchases the company in 1994 and operates it as a subsidiary. Plans are made to provide Noroeste with two de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otters and two Dash-8-102s in place of the ATRs and the leased “Baby Boeing” is returned.
Operations now continue largely without change. President Rodolfo R. Ponce operates two ATRs in 1995, but the Canadian-made turboprops are not added. Markets visited include Culiacan, Mexicali, Ciudad, Durango, and Monterrey. Only one ATR42-320 is in service in 1996, the year in which the company shuts its doors.
NORONTAIR (ONTARIO NORTHLAND AIR SERVICES, LTD.): Canada (1971-1996). The government of Ontario forms this carrier early in 1971 to provide schedule services to 21 provincial communities. Contracts are let by the overseeing Ontario Northland Transportation Commission to selected independent operators for maintenance and operation of a consortium service.
A fleet of 9 de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300s is assembled at North Bay. The 4 private airlines receiving contracts—Air Dale, Ltd., Austin Airways, Ltd., On Air, Ltd., Bearskin Airlines, Ltd.—begin revenue frequencies on October 18, providing connections to Air Canada, Ltd. and Transair, Ltd. flights.
During 1972-1980, daily services are flown to and between the following destinations: Atikokan, Chapleau, Cochrane, Dryden, Earlton, Elliott Lake, Fort Frances, Geraldton, Hornepayne, Kapuskasing, Kenora, Kirkland Lake, North Bay, Pickle Lake, Red Lake, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Terrace Bay, Thunder Bay, Timmins, and Wawa. A DHC-6-300 is destroyed by fire on the ground at Kenora on December 30,1977.
With the world economic recession, traffic falls during the early 1980s; enplanements in those years are: 1981 — 113,570; 1982—98,321; 1983—85,987. Director D. M. Wallace and General Manager J. R. Kil-gour oversee a workforce of 11.
As economic difficulties ease in 1984, the world’s first production-model DHC-8-101 is delivered. Christened Py DavouAt is placed in service by Air Dale, Ltd. in October. A second DHC-8-101 follows in January 1985. Named Jim C. Bell, it is also turned over to Air Dale, Ltd. The Py Davoud lands short of the runway at Sault Ste. Marie on February 2, 1986; it is salvaged and repaired. The carrier is taken into the Canadian Pacific Airlines, Ltd. (CPAL) “Canadian Partner” commuter family in October when the major acquires a 30% interest.
Norontair is put up for sale in 1987. Returned to service in 1987, the Py Davoud helps the company chalk up some 100,000 enplanements on the year. It is sold with the Jim C. Bell to Air Ontario, Inc. in 1988. The same year, the Twin Otters are sold to the contractors for operation over the developed route network. A new mandate is now given Norontair to develop another system linking even smaller communities. The workforce now stands at 25 and the fleet includes 2 different DHC-8-101s, 6 other Twin Otters, and 1 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain.
Passenger boardings accelerate 6.2% to 107,708.
Early in 1989, the route system is extended from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg. Customer bookings jump 5.6% to 102,260 and revenues climb 31.6% to C$10 million.
Passenger boardings ascend to 110,218 in 1990 and revenues total C$13.5 million.
The fleet in 1991 includes 5 Twin Otters, 2 DHC-8-101s, and 1 Chieftain. Customer bookings rise 2.6% to 109,000 and revenues slide to $C11 million. Passenger boardings jump to 112,000 in 1992. Income is C$12 million.
In 1993, President P. A. Dyment oversees 8 employees and contracts out a fleet of 6 DHC-6-300s, and 1 each DHC-8-101 and DHC-8-102, and 1 Piper PA-31-310 Navajo. Destinations served include: Kirkland Lake, Earlton, North Bay, Sudbarg, Sault Ste Marie, Chapleau, Elliot Lake, Gore Bay, Kapuskasing, Hearst, Hornepagne, Geraldton, Terrace Bay, Wawa, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Fort Frances, Aukikon, Dryden, Kenora, Red Lake, and Pickle Lake. The world airline depression has a significant impact on the company and no traffic or financial figures are released.
Services continue in 1994 as enplanements drop to 56,000, less than half of what they had been two years earlier. Operations continue to limp along through 1995, but, on March 29, 1996, the company shuts down and is offered for sale by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission. Most of the aircraft are returned to Bombardier Aerospace for disposal; during the first quarter of 1997, four of the Twin Otters and both Dash 8s are sold to the Papua New Guinea airline MBA (Pty.), Ltd.
NORSK AIR, A. S.: Norway (1988-1992). Norsk Air, A. S. (sometimes spelled NorskAIR, A. S.) is organized at Sandefjord in early 1988 to offer scheduled services from its base at Skien with a fleet of 3 Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias. Terje Rosjorde is named managing director. When the regional carrier Norving, A. S. ceases its scheduled services on February 1, Norsk is asked to move in and take over the routes. A fourth Brasilia is received later in the year.
In 1989, a fifth EMB-120 joins the fleet and a total of 128,000 passengers are flown. In May 1990, the 110-employee carrier, now in deep financial difficulty, is purchased by Wideroe’s Flyveselskap, A. S., which operates it as a subsidiary under the name Wideroe Norsk Air,
A. S. Trygve Floeloe becomes the new managing director and the number of Brasilias is reduced to three.
Enplanements slide to 121,710.
On October 28 1991, the line begins daily EMB-120 service from Kristianstad and Sanfjord to London (STN). The carrier’s statistics are now consolidated with those of its parent, which, in 1992, chooses to rename it Wideroe Norsk Air, A. S. Asbjorn Utne becomes managing director.
World History
