37 Facts About Braathens

For most of its history, Braathens was the largest domestic airline in Norway, but did not operate an international network for many years.

Braathens served 53 airports and 50 cities with scheduled services through its history.

Braathens SAFE retained an international charter service using the DC-3 and DC-6.

Braathens followed up by listing itself on the Oslo Stock Exchange, joining an alliance with Dutch airline KLM and expanding its operations to Sweden through purchasing Transwede and Malmo Aviation.

Braathens was controlled by Braganza until 2001, when it was sold to the SAS Group.

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Braathens had made good money during World War II with the participation in the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission.

In 1947, Braathens SAFE flew twenty-five trips to Hong Kong, five to New York City and one to Johannesburg.

The following year, Braathens SAFE started the first trial flights to South America.

SAS demanded preferential treatment, but Braathens SAFE threatened to flag out and the government gave them a concession that lasted until 1954, on condition they establish a technical base at Stavanger Airport, Sola.

Braathens SAFE made proposals to expand its routes to New York and Tokyo, but both were rejected by the government.

Braathens SAFE started cooperating with Icelandic Loftleidir, who held the rights to fly to North America via Iceland.

Braathens acquired de Havilland Heron aircraft to operate the route.

Braathens SAFE was the second airline to take delivery of the Fokker F-27 Friendship.

Braathens started charter flights to Longyearbyen in 1959, landing on an improvised snow runway.

In 1967 Braathens SAFE was granted permission to continue their service between Bergen, Alesund and Trondheim northwards to Bodø Airport and Tromsø Airport.

Braathens bought strategic stakes in both Saga Tours and Sweden's Atlas Resor to secure their share of the charter market.

Braathens SAFE bought 15 percent of DNL in 1982 and applied for concessions for helicopter services from Stavanger to offshore oil platforms.

Braathens was faced with not being able to charter out the plane because of the lower number of seats, but could not put in the extra seats because the aircraft were used for scheduled flights.

From 1988, Braathens SAFE was granted a series of international route concessions.

Braathens Helikopter was established by Braganza in 1989 after negotiating agreements with Norsk Hydro, Phillips Petroleum and Statoil to provide helicopter transport for their crews to their offshore oil installations Ekofisk, Oseberg, Gullfaks, Veslefrikk.

Since the airline's conception, Braathens SAFE had been a staunch opponent to the concession system and an avid proponent of free competition in the airline industry.

The following two years, Braathens SAFE introduced scheduled international flights to Rome, as well as summer routes to Jersey and Nice.

Braathens signed agreements with many of Norway's large companies in 1995 in exchange for large discounts.

Braathens bought Malmo Aviation on 17 August 1998, which operated eleven British Aerospace 146 jets between Stockholm-Bromma Airport, Goteborg Landvetter Airport, Malmo Airport and London City Airport.

Braathens introduced a new route to Haugesund, but saw competition from SAS to Kristiansand and from two airlines to Alesund.

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In February 1999, Braathens merged the Swedish division with Malmo Aviation, to create Braathens Malmo Aviation.

Braathens withdrew from the Oslo to Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger routes, but took over most flights to Northern Norway.

Three hundred Braathens' employees were offered jobs with SAS Ground Services, but these lost their seniority.

Braathens took over the operating licence of Braathens, including the IATA and ICAO code, and callsign.

From 1 June 2007, SAS Braathens was rebranded to Scandinavian Airlines, making it identical to the branding in Sweden and Denmark, although it remains a separate limited company named SAS Norge AS.

Braathens has operated five variants of the 737, totaling 64 aircraft.

Braathens had provided international services to 24 airports serving 22 cities in 17 countries.

Braathens held a monopoly on the routes from Oslo to Kristiansand, Alesund, Molde and Kristiansund, as well as the West Coast route between Bergen, Alesund, Molde, Kristiansund and Trondheim, as well as from Western Norway to Northern Norway.

Braathens SAFE had a strong image as the people's airline, in contrast to SAS' business image.

Braathens drew goodwill from being Norwegian-owned and that it displayed the Flag of Norway on the tailplane.

Braathens launched its frequent-flyer program as Bracard in 1985, and rebranded it as Wings in 1999.

Until 1997, Braathens had agreements with Finnair and British Airways, where Bracard members received miles on the partners flights.