Coast Air
Encyclopedia
Coast Air AS was a regional airline
based at Haugesund Airport, Karmøy
in Norway
. It was Norway's fourth-largest airline and operated domestic services within Norway, in addition to international services. Routes were concentrated along the West Coast, as well as some public service obligation
contracts in Southern Norway. The company had a fleet of de Havilland Canada Twin Otter aircraft, later replaced with Jetstream 31s and ATR 42
s.
The company was founded on the remains of Coast Aero Center
, which operated from 1975 to 1988. Coast Air started flying de Havilland Canada Twin Otter
aircraft from Haugesund to Oslo Airport, Fornebu
and Bergen Airport, Flesland
. In 1990, service from Fagernes Airport, Leirin
was also introduced, a route that lasted until 1997. Following the deregulation of aviation in Norway in 1994, Coast Air started several regional routes, replacing its fleet with Jetstream 31 aircraft. From 2000, Coast Air also served Florø Airport
on public service obligation
with the Ministry of Transport
, using ATR 42 aircraft. In 2003, it lost the Florø contract, but regained the Fagernes route. From 1999, Coast Air started competing direct with the larger airlines on main routes, and introduced new regional and international services. From then on, the company continuously lost money. From 2004, it wet-leased aircraft to Vildanden
, but the contract was canceled the following year. Following attempts to start new international route, Coast Air filed for bankruptcy in 2008.
to perform regional airline services in Norway. The company was owned and run by Asbjørn Utne.
Following the 1984 decision by Scandinavian Airlines System
to discontinue their route from Haugesund to Aberdeen
in the United Kingdom, Coast Aero Center applied for the concession. They would use a 15-seat Embraer Bandeirante that would be bought used for NOK 7.5 million. Coast Aero Center started their service on 20 August 1986, but it turned out to be unprofitable, and was terminated in April 1987.
In October 1984, Coast Aero Center, along with Norving
and Fonnafly
, applied for concession for the routes from Stord Airport, Sørstokken
to Oslo
, Bergen
and Stavanger
. Coast Air was successful at receiving the concession, and service started on 12 August 1986 with a ten-seater Beechcraft Super King 200
. In August, the company also received concession to fly from Stord via Skien Airport, Geiteryggen
to Oslo. By March 1987, traffic had increased so much that the company instead put a larger, 20-seater Twin Otter aircraft into service. Additional concessions to fly to Haugesund were also granted the same year, as were direct services to Oslo, making the stops in Skien unnecessary.
In 1985, the company joined the joint venture
Commuter Service, along with the other regional airlines Mørefly, based in Ålesund
, Trønderfly, based in Trondheim
, and Norsk Flytjeneste
, based in Sandefjord. The goal was to coordinate the services, and grow through newer, smaller routes. On 20 June 1986, Coast Aero Center was awarded the concession for flying from Stavanger to Geilo Airport, Dagali
until 1991. The airline put into service a Beechcraft Super King 200. The ridership from Geilo turned out to be too low, and both Coast Aero Center and Norving terminated their routes. In 1986, the revenue was NOK 14 million and the company had 24 employees. That year, they chose to connect to the PNR/Smart
booking system. In 1988, the company also bid for operating parts of the Norwegian Air Ambulance
.
The company was thrown into financial distress on 7 February 1988, when Den norske Creditbank
(DnC) announced that they would not issue more credit. At the time the company had nine daily routes and 35 employees. All services were immediately suspended. It had a debt of NOK 23 million, of which DnC demanded NOK 13 million paid by 10 February; the bank later gave the company three weeks to find the capital. On 17 February, a proposal for refinancing was made, where the hangar
s were sold to the local municipalities, who would also make a guarantee for NOK 2 million. DnC would delete part of the debt, and additional capital would be granted from Kosmos-owned Norsk Air
. This was not sufficient, and on 29 April Coast Aero Center filed for bankruptcy. Asbjørn Utne had to file for personal bankruptcy
.
. Six companies bid for the route, but only Coast Air and Widerøe
were deemed qualified; Coast Air could operate for NOK 2 million annually less than Widerøe, and therefore received the concession. Operation started on 3 September 1990, with the concession valid until 24 October 1993. In 1991, Coast Air flew 5,000 passengers to and from Fagernes Airport. With a NOK 6.8 million subsidy, it was the most expensive subsidized route per passenger in the country. This was largely due to a 20% cabin load. In August 1991, Coast Air received concession until 1993 for the route Haugesund–Bergen, but the Haugesund–Stavanger route was canceled. In March 1992, Coast Air was denied a concession to operate from Stord to Stavanger; instead, the concession was granted to Air Stord. Coast Air started flying from Skien Airport in 1993, with a route to Bergen.
On 1 April 1994, the Norwegian airline market was deregulated
. Airlines no longer needed to apply for concession from the government, but could fly any route they wanted to. For the first time, several airlines could establish themselves on the same route. The exception was the state-subsidized regional routes, that would become subject to public service obligation
s (PSO) from 1 April 1997. Following the deregulation, Coast Air introduced a route from Bergen to Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik
with a Jetstream 31. From 1995, the airline was forced to pay much higher fees to the Norwegian Civil Aviation Administration
, following the decision that all commercial plans, also those under 5.7 tonnes (5.6 LT), should pay flight fees. In October, Coast Air was close to buying Air Stord, but the company was instead sold to Aker. In 1995, two new Jetstream 31 aircraft were delivered, and the Twin Otter aircraft were transferred to the new route between Stord and Stavanger. A third Jetstream was delivered the following year, and the Twin Otter was taken out of service.
won. Their bid was NOK 23.7 million, 15% lower than the former subsidy for Coast Air. In the main tender, the Ministry of Transport and Communications issued seven packages, of which Coast Air chose to bid for two—to the airports in Namdal and Helgeland
, and to Andøya Airport, Andenes
. All seven packages were won by the incumbent operator Widerøe. The new tenders took effect on 1 April 1997, and lasted three years.
Coast Air's first PSO contract was awarded in September 1999, on the route from Florø Airport
to Oslo and Bergen. This required that the company put into service two 46-seat ATR 42-300
aircraft. It also caused a problem for Widerøe, who had their technical base for Western Norway at Florø. The company received NOK 51 million annually, from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2003; this resulted in there no longer being in intermediate stops from Florø to Bergen and Oslo. Color Air flew four or five daily trips to both Bergen and Oslo. The bid was about NOK 100 million lower than from Widerøe. Saga Petroleum
, who used Florø Airport as a helicopter base to fly their workers to offshore oil platforms, was critical to the use of the ATR 42 aircraft; while they were suitable for Florø, that has a 1200 metres (3,937 ft) runway, the planes would not be able to land at other airports in Sogn og Fjordane
. In cases of bad weather, the oil company would now have to bus their passengers from Bergen and Ålesund, instead of much closer airports, such as Førde Airport, Bringeland
. In February 2000, Coast Air was hit by a strike regarding which of the pilots were to be recertified to fly the larger ATR 42 aircraft. The pilots insisted that seniority be used for selection, while management wanted to be able to choose themselves. Management also wanted to secure that all personnel that were recertified signed a three-year working contract with the company. Not until mid-March was the strike settled, after a compromise had been reached.
In January 2000, Braathens
decided that it would terminate its service from Oslo to Røros Airport
, as well as reducing the number of flights between Haugesund and Bergen. Coast Air therefore announced it would increase the number of departures between Haugesund and Bergen, and at the same time was willing to fly to Røros if a state subsidy was granted. The contract to Røros was however won by Danish Air Transport (DAT), who bid NOK 500,000 per month, NOK 64,000 less than Coast Air.
The demand for air travel dropped in 2001, and only 85,000 passengers flew with Coast Air to Florø, instead of the estimated 100,000, making the entire operation a loss for the company. Despite this, Coast Air leased a third ATR 42 aircraft in February 2002. But cancellations continued to rise, and in November the company's subsidies from the ministry were reduced due to lack of performance. In December 2001, Guard Air was forced to terminate all operations, and a new PSO tender was made for the services to Fagernes. Along with Arctic Air, Widerøe and DAT, Coast Air made a bid. The contract was won by Arctic Air. With the next round of PSO contracts, valid from 1 April 2003 through 31 March 2006, Coast Air lost the Florø contract to DAT, but succeeded at winning the contract for Fagernes for NOK 10 million per year.
Following the 2005 announcement of the PSO contracts from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2009, Coast Air was awarded three contracts. In addition to retaining the Fagernes route, it also received the concession for the Røros and Andenes routes. The three routes gave NOK 35 million in annual subsidies. Røros and Andenes would be served by ATR 42-aircraft, while Jetstreams would be used to Fagernes. From 30 January 2007, the company also started flying from Røros to Trondheim twice a week. From 1 April 2007, Coast Air canceled their flights to Andenes. Since the operations were separated from the rest of the network, it was not possible to fly profitably. Widerøe subsequently took over the route. During July 2007, Coast Air introduced the smaller Jetstream aircraft on the routes to Røros.
in Sweden. In January 2000, the company announced that it was not making any money on the Kristiansand routes, and immediately terminated all four services. Coast air carried 50,000 passengers in 1999.
After having made small profits ten years in a row until 1998, Coast Air had a loss of NOK 18.6 million and a revenue of NOK 40.5 million in 1999. To increase liquidity, the company sold two of its four Jetstream 31 aircraft. The establishment in the PSO market was expensive for Coast Air, and the airline lost NOK 9.7 million in 2000. To counteract, the company's owners chose to perform a private placement of NOK 7.5 million. By April 2001, the liquidity problems in Coast Air were so severe that the employees threatened to file for bankruptcy. Coast Air chose to terminate the Haugesund–Aberdeen route, and replace it with a service between Bergen and Aberdeen. With the Scandinavian Airlines System take-over of Braathens in May, Coast Air became the largest airline in the country not owned by the SAS Group
. In 2003, the company chose to reintroduce the route between Stavanger and Geilo. Following Ryanair
's establishment of a route from Haugesunnd to London-Stansted in 2003, Coast Air won the contract for ground services in competition with SAS Ground Services
.
With the freeing up of aircraft after the 2003 PSO contract losses, Coast Air introduced and additional daily flight to Aberdeen. However, this was countered by Widerøe, who also started flying the route with Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 aircraft. Coast Air also introduced three daily flights from Stord to Oslo. On 5 May, the company started flights between Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget
and Trondheim Airport, Værnes
, after having received a NOK 150,000 subsidy from the Municipality of Kristiansund for marketing the route. The competition to Aberdeen proved to be too fierce, and Coast Air terminated operations in December. In September, the company ended in court with the labor union, regarding whether the company had promised them a fifth week of holiday in earlier negotiations; the company lost the court case.
On 2 June 2003, Coast Air started its first head-on competition with Scandinavian Airlines. Using the ATR planes, Coast Air started with two daily round services between Haugesund and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
. By September, Coast Air increased to three daily round trips, and reduced prices to NOK 500. From 9 October, Scandinavian Airlines reduced their prices by 22% on the route. On 16 February, Coast Air also started competing with Braathens and Widerøe on the route between Stavanger and Bergen, marketing it as a low-fare service and ticket prices as low as NOK 199. The Haugesund–Oslo route cost Coast Air NOK 11 million in 2003. In March 2004, Coast Air was forced to close the Stord to Oslo route, after several reductions in frequency during the past year. To create more inertia on the Bergen–Stavanger route, Coast Air also started a cooperation with DAT, where the latter flew an extra daily round trip. Following the losses of the Haugesund–Oslo and Bergen–Stavanger routes, they were terminated in May 2004. In December, the Norwegian Competition Authority
started investigating Scandinavian Airlines for illegal price dumping on the Oslo–Haugesund route. The authority suspected that SAS had illegally cross-subsidized the route to fend off the competition, and announced the company would be fined NOK 20 million. The case ended in Oslo District Court
, where Scandinavian Airlines was found not guilty. Though initially appealed by the authority, the matter was settled out-of-court in December 2007, in which the airline agreed that they had broken the law, but that since it happened just after the act came into power, they would not have to pay the fine.
. For a long period, there had been a public debate about closing the airport. It was decided to operate the company as a virtual airline
, and wet lease
operations from other companies. In October 2004, a contract was signed with Coast Air, who would operate a Jetstream 31 aircraft between Skien and Bergen. Coast Air also bought 20% of Vildanden. Skien Airport had then been closed since 2002, following the increased domestic and international traffic from near-by Sandefjord Airport, Torp.
Initial service would have 16 weekly departures to Bergen Airport, Flesland
. The main targeted market segment was the offshore petroleum industry, and the departure times were designed to meet helicopter routes to offshore installations. The company estimated that one quarter of travelers would be people commuting to the North Sea
. Norsk Hydro
, who have a lot of employees in the Grenland
area, stated that they could not start using Vildanden because they had an agreement to use SAS Braathens
' services from Sandefjord. The first scheduled service flew on 24 January 2005, carrying eight passenger.
On 19 April, a new Jetstream 32 aircraft was taken into service. This allowed capacity to increase from 12 to 19 passengers, and at the same time travel time was reduced from 47 to 39 minutes. By September, the most popular departures were being fully booked, and Vildanden asked Coast Air for a larger aircraft, with about 30 seats. In addition to allowing more passengers, larger planes would give higher comfort, and allow a more flexible ticket pricing scheme. An agreement with Danish Air Transport (DAT) to operate an ATR 42
, with a capacity of 48 seats, was signed by Vildanden in mid October.
To be able to breach the agreement with Coast Air—who still had a wet leasing contract, but were not able to put into operation a larger aircraft—the company Skien Lufttransport AS was created, and it purchased all the revenue and passenger rights from Vildanden. At the same time, it became the legal counterpart for DAT. The new aircraft was put into service on 31 October, branded with the Vildanden logo. Coast Air chose to continue operating the route between Bergen and Skien in their own name, and used the same aircraft and slot times. At Skien Airport, the Vildanden passengers were given the choice between Coast Air and Vildanden, and all nineteen chose Vildanden. On the return flight, three passengers chose each airline. Both aircraft flew to Skien, but due to heavy rain, only the aircraft from DAT was able to land. The passengers who had taken the Coast Air aircraft were instead forced to land at Sandefjord Airport.
The following day, Coast Air terminated their flights, but stated that they still had an agreement with Vildanden. Skien Lufttransport on their hand stated that Vildanden was now a sleeping company, and that contract therefore was terminated. Both companies considered the incident a legal matter. In December, the two companies settled out of court.
Kystfly AS (Norwegian for "Coast Air"), which was again owned by four people: Trygve Seglem through TS Invest, Harry Aase through Aase Invest, Asbjørn Utne and the Hystad family through Karmsund Maritime Invest. From 2001 to 2003, NOK 35 million were given in private placements to the company, but in February 2004, the Hystad family chose to withdraw from the corporation. At the time the company had 78 employees. By April the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, but private placemens by Seglem and Aase meant the company could continue operating. However, the entire ATR 42-fleet would be sold, and Coast Air was to change focus to the wetleasing market with the Jetstream 31 aircraft.
In August 2004, Seglem bought the entire company from the partners. After the reorganization, the company made a small profit in the last quarter of 2004. However, for the whole 2004, the company lost NOK 17.6 million. In September, Coast Air started flying the Stord–Oslo route again, using the ATR planes, following the termination by Golden Air
. On 19 November, Coast Air also started a route between Stord, Haugesund and Sandefjord once per week. In 2005, the company also introduced a flight between Haugesund and Molde Airport, Årø
. In February 2006, the company started flying twice a day from Sandefjord to Stockholm using the Jetstream aircraft. With increased traffic and the new PSO contracts, Coast Air received a third ATR 42 aircraft in April. Restructurization led to Coast Air dropping ground services, and from 1 May 2007, SAS Ground Services handled Coast Air's planes at Haugesund. The company also introduced in-flight breakfast on all ATR 42-flights. In addition, it started with two daily round trips from Haugesund to Copenhagen Airport
in Denmark. The airline also introduced a business lounge for passengers traveling in Super Economy class. In November, another route was opened with two weekly round services from Stord to Gdańsk
in Poland.
On 23 January 2008, the board of Coast Air filed for bankruptcy. High costs made the owner Seglem loose faith in future profits. The company had lost more than NOK 100 million since 2001. It was Norway's fourth largest airline at the time. The company lost NOK 30 million in 2007, and Seglem was stated that he was tired of covering the losses of the company. He also felt that the agreement the company had with the pilots gave less working hours compared to the competitors Norwegian Air Shuttle
and Danish Air Transport, and the lack of understanding from the pilots made him give up. Half the 95 employees in the company were pilots. All the aircraft were owned by the mother company Kystfly, and there were no values in the estate. DAT offered to purchase the three ATR 42 aircraft, and hire part of the crew who lost their jobs as a consequence of the bankruptcy.
Widerøe announced that it would take up the routes from Haugesund to Copenhagen. After an extraordinary PSO tender, Widerøe was awarded the flights to Røros, while Air Norway
was awarded the flights to Fagernes. With the fall of Coast Air, Stord Airport was without any scheduled routes and income, and lost NOK 350,000 per month until a new service was in place. The routes to Stord were taken over by Sun Air of Scandinavia
, who operate Dornier 328
aircraft on franchise from British Airways
.
Regional airline
Regional airlines are airlines that operate regional aircraft to provide passenger air service to communities without sufficient demand to attract mainline service...
based at Haugesund Airport, Karmøy
Haugesund Airport, Karmøy
Haugesund Airport, Karmøy is the airport serving the city of Haugesund in Norway. It is located on the west side of the island and municipality of Karmøy, southwest of Haugesund. The airport was opened in 1975 and is operated by Avinor....
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. It was Norway's fourth-largest airline and operated domestic services within Norway, in addition to international services. Routes were concentrated along the West Coast, as well as some public service obligation
Public Service Obligation
In transport, public service obligation or PSO is an arrangement in which a governing body or other authority offers an auction for subsidies, permit the winning company a monopoly to operate a specified service of public transport for a specified period of time for the given subsidy...
contracts in Southern Norway. The company had a fleet of de Havilland Canada Twin Otter aircraft, later replaced with Jetstream 31s and ATR 42
ATR 42
-Civil operators:The largest operators of the ATR-42 are FedEx Express, Airlinair, TRIP Linhas Aéreas,and Mexico City-based Aeromar respectively. Number of aircraft as of 2010:Some 70 other airlines operate smaller numbers of the type....
s.
The company was founded on the remains of Coast Aero Center
Coast Aero Center
Coast Aero Center was a regional airline based Haugesund Airport, Karmøy in Norway. It had only small-plane operations and mechanical services until 1984, when it got concessions to operate at the new Stord Airport, Sørstokken, Geilo Airport, Dagali, and eventually from Haugesund to Aberdeen. It...
, which operated from 1975 to 1988. Coast Air started flying de Havilland Canada Twin Otter
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
The DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian 19-passenger STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada and currently produced by Viking Air. The aircraft's fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL abilities and high rate of climb have made it a successful cargo, regional passenger airliner and MEDEVAC...
aircraft from Haugesund to Oslo Airport, Fornebu
Oslo Airport, Fornebu
Oslo Airport, Fornebu was the main airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen and the area has since been redeveloped. The airport was located at Fornebu in Bærum, from the city center. Fornebu had two runways, one...
and Bergen Airport, Flesland
Bergen Airport, Flesland
Bergen Airport, Flesland is an international airport located southwest of Bergen, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport in Norway, with 5,296,325 passengers in 2010. Flesland is operated by the state-owned Avinor...
. In 1990, service from Fagernes Airport, Leirin
Fagernes Airport, Leirin
Fagernes Airport, Leirin serves Fagernes and the surrounding valleys of Valdres, Hallingdal and Gudbrandsdal in Southern Norway, from Oslo. Opened in 1987, it is owned and operated by state-owned Avinor. The airport is above sea level, and has a runway...
was also introduced, a route that lasted until 1997. Following the deregulation of aviation in Norway in 1994, Coast Air started several regional routes, replacing its fleet with Jetstream 31 aircraft. From 2000, Coast Air also served Florø Airport
Florø Airport
Florø airport is an airport serving the town of Florø in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located south of the town centre, on an area of land called Florelandet...
on public service obligation
Public Service Obligation
In transport, public service obligation or PSO is an arrangement in which a governing body or other authority offers an auction for subsidies, permit the winning company a monopoly to operate a specified service of public transport for a specified period of time for the given subsidy...
with the Ministry of Transport
Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Transportation and Communications is a Norwegian ministry established in 1946, and is responsible for transportation and communication infrastructure in Norway. It is led by Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa...
, using ATR 42 aircraft. In 2003, it lost the Florø contract, but regained the Fagernes route. From 1999, Coast Air started competing direct with the larger airlines on main routes, and introduced new regional and international services. From then on, the company continuously lost money. From 2004, it wet-leased aircraft to Vildanden
Vildanden (airline)
Vildanden AS was a virtual, regional airline based at Skien Airport, Geiteryggen in Norway, where it was the only airline. With operations starting in 2005, it flew to Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger using a Jetstream 32 and a ATR 42, which is wet leased from Danish Air Transport and Helitrans...
, but the contract was canceled the following year. Following attempts to start new international route, Coast Air filed for bankruptcy in 2008.
Coast Aero Center
Coast Aero Center started operations in 1975 from Haugesund Airport. The company was a local mechanical and small-plane operator until 1984, when it started to apply for concessionsConcession (contract)
A concession is a business operated under a contract or license associated with a degree of exclusivity in business within a certain geographical area. For example, sports arenas or public parks may have concession stands. Many department stores contain numerous concessions operated by other...
to perform regional airline services in Norway. The company was owned and run by Asbjørn Utne.
Following the 1984 decision by Scandinavian Airlines System
Scandinavian Airlines System
Scandinavian Airlines or SAS, previously Scandinavian Airlines System, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and the largest airline in Scandinavia....
to discontinue their route from Haugesund to Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
in the United Kingdom, Coast Aero Center applied for the concession. They would use a 15-seat Embraer Bandeirante that would be bought used for NOK 7.5 million. Coast Aero Center started their service on 20 August 1986, but it turned out to be unprofitable, and was terminated in April 1987.
In October 1984, Coast Aero Center, along with Norving
Norving
Norving A/S was a regional airline that operated in Norway between 1971 and 1993. It had roots back to the establishment of Varangfly in 1959. At the most, the company had eight bases and 27 aircraft.-History:...
and Fonnafly
Fonnafly
Fonnafly is an airline based in Bergen, Norway. It operates five Cessna 206 and one De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, all seaplanes, as well as two Robinson R44 helicopters. The main operational bases are Rosendal, as well as Bergen, Voss and Oslo Airport, Fornebu....
, applied for concession for the routes from Stord Airport, Sørstokken
Stord Airport, Sørstokken
Stord Airport, Sørstokken is a municipal regional airport located at Sørstokken in Stord, Norway. Located from Leirvik, it is the only airport with scheduled services in Sunnhordland. The airport consists of a single asphalted long 15–33 runway. It is classified as an airport of entry.Danish...
to Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
and Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
. Coast Air was successful at receiving the concession, and service started on 12 August 1986 with a ten-seater Beechcraft Super King 200
Beechcraft Super King Air
The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation . The King Air line comprises a number of model series that fall into two families: the Model 90 series, Model 100 series , Model 200 series and Model 300 series...
. In August, the company also received concession to fly from Stord via Skien Airport, Geiteryggen
Skien Airport, Geiteryggen
Skien Airport, Geiteryggen is an airport located 2.5 km southwest of the city centre of Skien, Norway. Skien Lufthavn AS operates the airport and this company is owned by the local municipality of Skien in the Grenland region. Services are provided by Danish Air Transport to Bergen and Stavanger...
to Oslo. By March 1987, traffic had increased so much that the company instead put a larger, 20-seater Twin Otter aircraft into service. Additional concessions to fly to Haugesund were also granted the same year, as were direct services to Oslo, making the stops in Skien unnecessary.
In 1985, the company joined the joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
Commuter Service, along with the other regional airlines Mørefly, based in Ålesund
Ålesund
is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre, and the center of the Ålesund Region. It is a sea port, and is noted for its unique concentration of Art Nouveau architecture....
, Trønderfly, based in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
, and Norsk Flytjeneste
Norsk Air
Widerøe Norsk Air AS, formerly known as Vestfoldfly, Norsk Flytjeneste AS and Norsk Air AS, was a Norwegian airline based at Sandefjord Airport, Torp...
, based in Sandefjord. The goal was to coordinate the services, and grow through newer, smaller routes. On 20 June 1986, Coast Aero Center was awarded the concession for flying from Stavanger to Geilo Airport, Dagali
Geilo Airport, Dagali
Geilo Airport, Dagali is a private airport located at Dagali in Hol, Norway. It was previously a public airport that was both a regional airport and served international tourist charter airlines serving the nearby ski resorts centered around Geilo. The airport opened in 1985, but failed...
until 1991. The airline put into service a Beechcraft Super King 200. The ridership from Geilo turned out to be too low, and both Coast Aero Center and Norving terminated their routes. In 1986, the revenue was NOK 14 million and the company had 24 employees. That year, they chose to connect to the PNR/Smart
Passenger Name Record
In the travel industry, a passenger name record is a record in the database of a computer reservation system that contains the itinerary for a passenger, or a group of passengers traveling together...
booking system. In 1988, the company also bid for operating parts of the Norwegian Air Ambulance
Norwegian Air Ambulance
The Norwegian Air Ambulance is the air ambulance service in Norway organised through the government owned limited company Luftambulansetjenesten . The service provides helicopter emergency medical service and fixed wing air ambulance operations.Dedicated planes are provided at six airports, and...
.
The company was thrown into financial distress on 7 February 1988, when Den norske Creditbank
Den norske Creditbank
Den norske Creditbank or DnC is a defunct Norwegian commercial bank created in 1857. In 1990 it merged with Bergen Bank to create Den norske Bank...
(DnC) announced that they would not issue more credit. At the time the company had nine daily routes and 35 employees. All services were immediately suspended. It had a debt of NOK 23 million, of which DnC demanded NOK 13 million paid by 10 February; the bank later gave the company three weeks to find the capital. On 17 February, a proposal for refinancing was made, where the hangar
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
s were sold to the local municipalities, who would also make a guarantee for NOK 2 million. DnC would delete part of the debt, and additional capital would be granted from Kosmos-owned Norsk Air
Norsk Air
Widerøe Norsk Air AS, formerly known as Vestfoldfly, Norsk Flytjeneste AS and Norsk Air AS, was a Norwegian airline based at Sandefjord Airport, Torp...
. This was not sufficient, and on 29 April Coast Aero Center filed for bankruptcy. Asbjørn Utne had to file for personal bankruptcy
Personal bankruptcy
Personal bankruptcy is a procedure which, in certain jurisdictions, allows an individual to declare bankruptcy. In other jurisdictions, bankruptcies are reserved for corporations.-Canada:...
.
Reestablishment
Following the bankruptcy, the estate was purchased by Coast Air. In 1989, the new company received a one-year concession to operate from Haugesund to Bergen and Stavanger, and from Geilo to Oslo and Stavanger. The company used de Havilland Canada Twin Otter aircraft. The following year, Coast Air also received the concession for operating the subsidized routes to the newly opened Fagernes Airport, LeirinFagernes Airport, Leirin
Fagernes Airport, Leirin serves Fagernes and the surrounding valleys of Valdres, Hallingdal and Gudbrandsdal in Southern Norway, from Oslo. Opened in 1987, it is owned and operated by state-owned Avinor. The airport is above sea level, and has a runway...
. Six companies bid for the route, but only Coast Air and Widerøe
Widerøe
Widerøe's Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a regional airline in Norway and part of the SAS Group. It operates a fleet of 34 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft , serving 41 domestic and 6 international destinations...
were deemed qualified; Coast Air could operate for NOK 2 million annually less than Widerøe, and therefore received the concession. Operation started on 3 September 1990, with the concession valid until 24 October 1993. In 1991, Coast Air flew 5,000 passengers to and from Fagernes Airport. With a NOK 6.8 million subsidy, it was the most expensive subsidized route per passenger in the country. This was largely due to a 20% cabin load. In August 1991, Coast Air received concession until 1993 for the route Haugesund–Bergen, but the Haugesund–Stavanger route was canceled. In March 1992, Coast Air was denied a concession to operate from Stord to Stavanger; instead, the concession was granted to Air Stord. Coast Air started flying from Skien Airport in 1993, with a route to Bergen.
On 1 April 1994, the Norwegian airline market was deregulated
Airline deregulation
Airline deregulation is the process of removing entry and price restrictions on airlines affecting, in particular, the carriers permitted to serve specific routes. In the United States, the term usually applies to the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978...
. Airlines no longer needed to apply for concession from the government, but could fly any route they wanted to. For the first time, several airlines could establish themselves on the same route. The exception was the state-subsidized regional routes, that would become subject to public service obligation
Public Service Obligation
In transport, public service obligation or PSO is an arrangement in which a governing body or other authority offers an auction for subsidies, permit the winning company a monopoly to operate a specified service of public transport for a specified period of time for the given subsidy...
s (PSO) from 1 April 1997. Following the deregulation, Coast Air introduced a route from Bergen to Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik
Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik
Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik is situated northeast of the city Kristiansand, Vest-Agder in southern Norway, located from the city centre. The airport serves the Agder district with domestic and international flights. In 2008 the airport had 915,092 passengers. The airport is operated by Avinor...
with a Jetstream 31. From 1995, the airline was forced to pay much higher fees to the Norwegian Civil Aviation Administration
Avinor
Avinor AS is a state owned limited company in that operates most of the civil airports in Norway. The Norwegian state, via the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications controls 100 percent of the share capital. Avinor was created on 1 January 2003, by the privatization of the...
, following the decision that all commercial plans, also those under 5.7 tonnes (5.6 LT), should pay flight fees. In October, Coast Air was close to buying Air Stord, but the company was instead sold to Aker. In 1995, two new Jetstream 31 aircraft were delivered, and the Twin Otter aircraft were transferred to the new route between Stord and Stavanger. A third Jetstream was delivered the following year, and the Twin Otter was taken out of service.
Public service obligations
The state-subsidized regional airline contracts were made subject to PSO in 1996. In a trial tender for the Fagernes route. Five domestic airlines bid, and Teddy AirTeddy Air
Teddy Air AS was a regional airline, based at Skien Airport, Geiteryggen, in Norway. Operating between 1989 and 2004, the company operated Britten-Norman Islander, Embraer 110 and Saab 340 aircraft. The company started by providing a scheduled service between Skien and Oslo in 1990, followed by...
won. Their bid was NOK 23.7 million, 15% lower than the former subsidy for Coast Air. In the main tender, the Ministry of Transport and Communications issued seven packages, of which Coast Air chose to bid for two—to the airports in Namdal and Helgeland
Helgeland
Helgeland is the most southerly district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. The district covers an area of about , with nearly 79,000 inhabitants...
, and to Andøya Airport, Andenes
Andøya Airport, Andenes
Andøya Airport, Andenes is the airport serving Andenes, Norway, in the municipality of Andøy. It is located right next to the town of Andenes network in Norway, being served by Widerøe. Andøya Airport is owned and operated by Avinor.-History:The first idea of building a military airport was...
. All seven packages were won by the incumbent operator Widerøe. The new tenders took effect on 1 April 1997, and lasted three years.
Coast Air's first PSO contract was awarded in September 1999, on the route from Florø Airport
Florø Airport
Florø airport is an airport serving the town of Florø in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located south of the town centre, on an area of land called Florelandet...
to Oslo and Bergen. This required that the company put into service two 46-seat ATR 42-300
ATR 42
-Civil operators:The largest operators of the ATR-42 are FedEx Express, Airlinair, TRIP Linhas Aéreas,and Mexico City-based Aeromar respectively. Number of aircraft as of 2010:Some 70 other airlines operate smaller numbers of the type....
aircraft. It also caused a problem for Widerøe, who had their technical base for Western Norway at Florø. The company received NOK 51 million annually, from 1 April 2000 to 31 March 2003; this resulted in there no longer being in intermediate stops from Florø to Bergen and Oslo. Color Air flew four or five daily trips to both Bergen and Oslo. The bid was about NOK 100 million lower than from Widerøe. Saga Petroleum
Saga Petroleum
Saga Petroleum was a Norwegian upstream petroleum company established in 1972 that was acquired by Norsk Hydro in 1999. Since October 2007 it is a part of Statoil. The company was the only fully private oil company in Norway. It had partial ownership in 60 oil field licenses and was operator of 18...
, who used Florø Airport as a helicopter base to fly their workers to offshore oil platforms, was critical to the use of the ATR 42 aircraft; while they were suitable for Florø, that has a 1200 metres (3,937 ft) runway, the planes would not be able to land at other airports in Sogn og Fjordane
Sogn og Fjordane
is a county in Norway, bordering Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland. The county administration is in the town of Hermansverk in Leikanger municipality while the largest town is Førde....
. In cases of bad weather, the oil company would now have to bus their passengers from Bergen and Ålesund, instead of much closer airports, such as Førde Airport, Bringeland
Førde Airport, Bringeland
Førde Airport, Bringeland is located in the municipality of Gaular in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The airport is at Bringelandsåsen, about east of the end of the Dalsfjorden at an elevation of above sea level....
. In February 2000, Coast Air was hit by a strike regarding which of the pilots were to be recertified to fly the larger ATR 42 aircraft. The pilots insisted that seniority be used for selection, while management wanted to be able to choose themselves. Management also wanted to secure that all personnel that were recertified signed a three-year working contract with the company. Not until mid-March was the strike settled, after a compromise had been reached.
In January 2000, Braathens
Braathens
Braathens ASA, until 1997 Braathens South American & Far East Airtransport A/S and trading as Braathens SAFE, is a former Norwegian airline that operated from 1946 until it merged with Scandinavian Airlines Norway to become SAS Braathens in 2004. The airline was based in Oslo, first at Fornebu,...
decided that it would terminate its service from Oslo to Røros Airport
Røros Airport
Røros Airport is a regional airport serving the town of Røros in Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. The airport is located west of the town centre and opened in 1957. It is served daily by DOT LT to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen and weekly by Skyways Express to Stockholm-Arlanda Airport...
, as well as reducing the number of flights between Haugesund and Bergen. Coast Air therefore announced it would increase the number of departures between Haugesund and Bergen, and at the same time was willing to fly to Røros if a state subsidy was granted. The contract to Røros was however won by Danish Air Transport (DAT), who bid NOK 500,000 per month, NOK 64,000 less than Coast Air.
The demand for air travel dropped in 2001, and only 85,000 passengers flew with Coast Air to Florø, instead of the estimated 100,000, making the entire operation a loss for the company. Despite this, Coast Air leased a third ATR 42 aircraft in February 2002. But cancellations continued to rise, and in November the company's subsidies from the ministry were reduced due to lack of performance. In December 2001, Guard Air was forced to terminate all operations, and a new PSO tender was made for the services to Fagernes. Along with Arctic Air, Widerøe and DAT, Coast Air made a bid. The contract was won by Arctic Air. With the next round of PSO contracts, valid from 1 April 2003 through 31 March 2006, Coast Air lost the Florø contract to DAT, but succeeded at winning the contract for Fagernes for NOK 10 million per year.
Following the 2005 announcement of the PSO contracts from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2009, Coast Air was awarded three contracts. In addition to retaining the Fagernes route, it also received the concession for the Røros and Andenes routes. The three routes gave NOK 35 million in annual subsidies. Røros and Andenes would be served by ATR 42-aircraft, while Jetstreams would be used to Fagernes. From 30 January 2007, the company also started flying from Røros to Trondheim twice a week. From 1 April 2007, Coast Air canceled their flights to Andenes. Since the operations were separated from the rest of the network, it was not possible to fly profitably. Widerøe subsequently took over the route. During July 2007, Coast Air introduced the smaller Jetstream aircraft on the routes to Røros.
Darkening skies
Following the loss of the Fagernes route, Coast Air relocated its services to the Bergen–Skien and the Haugesund–Aberdeen route in 1997. After Air Stord filed for bankruptcy in February 1999, Coast Air and Teddy Air both started flights from the airport to Oslo. Coast Air also expanded Kristiansand as a hub, with additional routes to Stavanger, Haugesund and GothenburgGothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
in Sweden. In January 2000, the company announced that it was not making any money on the Kristiansand routes, and immediately terminated all four services. Coast air carried 50,000 passengers in 1999.
After having made small profits ten years in a row until 1998, Coast Air had a loss of NOK 18.6 million and a revenue of NOK 40.5 million in 1999. To increase liquidity, the company sold two of its four Jetstream 31 aircraft. The establishment in the PSO market was expensive for Coast Air, and the airline lost NOK 9.7 million in 2000. To counteract, the company's owners chose to perform a private placement of NOK 7.5 million. By April 2001, the liquidity problems in Coast Air were so severe that the employees threatened to file for bankruptcy. Coast Air chose to terminate the Haugesund–Aberdeen route, and replace it with a service between Bergen and Aberdeen. With the Scandinavian Airlines System take-over of Braathens in May, Coast Air became the largest airline in the country not owned by the SAS Group
SAS Group
Scandinavian Airlines System Aktiebolag , trading as SAS Group and SAS AB, is a holding company based in Solna, Sweden. It is the parent company of the airlines Scandinavian Airlines, Blue1 and Widerøe, and the aviation services companies SAS Business Opportunities, SAS Cargo Group, SAS Ground...
. In 2003, the company chose to reintroduce the route between Stavanger and Geilo. Following Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
's establishment of a route from Haugesunnd to London-Stansted in 2003, Coast Air won the contract for ground services in competition with SAS Ground Services
SAS Ground Services
SAS Ground Handling is Europe's third largest full-service provider of aircraft ground handling and airport related services. SAS Ground Handling is the largest ground handling company in Scandinavia....
.
Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget
Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget is a small size international airport located next to the small mountain Kvernberget, east southeast or from the town center of Kristiansund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, opened in 1970 and caters to the county's northern district, Nordmøre. The airport...
and Trondheim Airport, Værnes
Trondheim Airport, Værnes
Trondheim Airport, Værnes is an international airport located in Stjørdal, east of Trondheim, Norway. Operated by the state-owned Avinor, it shares facilities with Værnes Air Station of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. In 2010, the airport had 3,521,734 passengers and 55,747 air movements,...
, after having received a NOK 150,000 subsidy from the Municipality of Kristiansund for marketing the route. The competition to Aberdeen proved to be too fierce, and Coast Air terminated operations in December. In September, the company ended in court with the labor union, regarding whether the company had promised them a fifth week of holiday in earlier negotiations; the company lost the court case.
On 2 June 2003, Coast Air started its first head-on competition with Scandinavian Airlines. Using the ATR planes, Coast Air started with two daily round services between Haugesund and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen is the principal airport serving Oslo, Norway. It acts as the main domestic hub and international airport for Norway, and the second-busiest airport in the Nordic countries. A hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, and a focus city for Widerøe, it is...
. By September, Coast Air increased to three daily round trips, and reduced prices to NOK 500. From 9 October, Scandinavian Airlines reduced their prices by 22% on the route. On 16 February, Coast Air also started competing with Braathens and Widerøe on the route between Stavanger and Bergen, marketing it as a low-fare service and ticket prices as low as NOK 199. The Haugesund–Oslo route cost Coast Air NOK 11 million in 2003. In March 2004, Coast Air was forced to close the Stord to Oslo route, after several reductions in frequency during the past year. To create more inertia on the Bergen–Stavanger route, Coast Air also started a cooperation with DAT, where the latter flew an extra daily round trip. Following the losses of the Haugesund–Oslo and Bergen–Stavanger routes, they were terminated in May 2004. In December, the Norwegian Competition Authority
Norwegian Competition Authority
Norwegian Competition Authority is Norwegian Government agency responsible for managing the Competition Act of 2004, including regulations imposed through the European Economic Community. This includes regulating cooperation that hinders competition, misuse of a dominant market position and...
started investigating Scandinavian Airlines for illegal price dumping on the Oslo–Haugesund route. The authority suspected that SAS had illegally cross-subsidized the route to fend off the competition, and announced the company would be fined NOK 20 million. The case ended in Oslo District Court
Oslo District Court
Oslo District Court is the district court serving Oslo, Norway. Cases may be appealed to Borgarting Court of Appeal. As the largest district court in Norway, it handles about 20% of all cases in the country...
, where Scandinavian Airlines was found not guilty. Though initially appealed by the authority, the matter was settled out-of-court in December 2007, in which the airline agreed that they had broken the law, but that since it happened just after the act came into power, they would not have to pay the fine.
Vildanden
On 23 November 2004, eighteen local investors founded the airline Vildanden to start scheduled flights from Skien Airport, GeiteryggenSkien Airport, Geiteryggen
Skien Airport, Geiteryggen is an airport located 2.5 km southwest of the city centre of Skien, Norway. Skien Lufthavn AS operates the airport and this company is owned by the local municipality of Skien in the Grenland region. Services are provided by Danish Air Transport to Bergen and Stavanger...
. For a long period, there had been a public debate about closing the airport. It was decided to operate the company as a virtual airline
Virtual Airline (economics)
In economics, a virtual airline is an airline that has outsourced as many possible operational and business functions as it can, but still maintains effective control of its core business. Such an airline focuses on operating a network of air services, and outsourcing non-core activities to other...
, and wet lease
Wet lease
Aircraft leases are a number of types of leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons; to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide temporary increase in capacity...
operations from other companies. In October 2004, a contract was signed with Coast Air, who would operate a Jetstream 31 aircraft between Skien and Bergen. Coast Air also bought 20% of Vildanden. Skien Airport had then been closed since 2002, following the increased domestic and international traffic from near-by Sandefjord Airport, Torp.
Initial service would have 16 weekly departures to Bergen Airport, Flesland
Bergen Airport, Flesland
Bergen Airport, Flesland is an international airport located southwest of Bergen, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport in Norway, with 5,296,325 passengers in 2010. Flesland is operated by the state-owned Avinor...
. The main targeted market segment was the offshore petroleum industry, and the departure times were designed to meet helicopter routes to offshore installations. The company estimated that one quarter of travelers would be people commuting to the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is the fourth largest integrated aluminium company worldwide. It has operations in some 40 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state holds a 43.8 percent...
, who have a lot of employees in the Grenland
Grenland
Grenland is a traditional district in the county of Telemark, in the south of Norway. It is composed of the municipalities Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, Nome, and Siljan. Sometimes the municipalities Kragerø, and Drangedal are considered being part of the area...
area, stated that they could not start using Vildanden because they had an agreement to use SAS Braathens
SAS Braathens
SAS Braathens was the name of Norway's largest airline, created by a merger between Scandinavian Airlines' Norwegian division and Braathens in 2004. On June 1, 2007, the airline was integrated into mainline SAS, and changed its name to SAS Scandinavian Airlines Norge...
' services from Sandefjord. The first scheduled service flew on 24 January 2005, carrying eight passenger.
On 19 April, a new Jetstream 32 aircraft was taken into service. This allowed capacity to increase from 12 to 19 passengers, and at the same time travel time was reduced from 47 to 39 minutes. By September, the most popular departures were being fully booked, and Vildanden asked Coast Air for a larger aircraft, with about 30 seats. In addition to allowing more passengers, larger planes would give higher comfort, and allow a more flexible ticket pricing scheme. An agreement with Danish Air Transport (DAT) to operate an ATR 42
ATR 42
-Civil operators:The largest operators of the ATR-42 are FedEx Express, Airlinair, TRIP Linhas Aéreas,and Mexico City-based Aeromar respectively. Number of aircraft as of 2010:Some 70 other airlines operate smaller numbers of the type....
, with a capacity of 48 seats, was signed by Vildanden in mid October.
The following day, Coast Air terminated their flights, but stated that they still had an agreement with Vildanden. Skien Lufttransport on their hand stated that Vildanden was now a sleeping company, and that contract therefore was terminated. Both companies considered the incident a legal matter. In December, the two companies settled out of court.
Financial crash landing
Until 2004, Coast Air was owned by the holding companyHolding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
Kystfly AS (Norwegian for "Coast Air"), which was again owned by four people: Trygve Seglem through TS Invest, Harry Aase through Aase Invest, Asbjørn Utne and the Hystad family through Karmsund Maritime Invest. From 2001 to 2003, NOK 35 million were given in private placements to the company, but in February 2004, the Hystad family chose to withdraw from the corporation. At the time the company had 78 employees. By April the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, but private placemens by Seglem and Aase meant the company could continue operating. However, the entire ATR 42-fleet would be sold, and Coast Air was to change focus to the wetleasing market with the Jetstream 31 aircraft.
In August 2004, Seglem bought the entire company from the partners. After the reorganization, the company made a small profit in the last quarter of 2004. However, for the whole 2004, the company lost NOK 17.6 million. In September, Coast Air started flying the Stord–Oslo route again, using the ATR planes, following the termination by Golden Air
Golden Air
Golden Air is a regional airline based in Trollhättan, Sweden. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Finland, Norway and Sweden, as well as ad hoc charter services. Its main base is Trollhättan-Vänersborg Airport, with hubs at Helsinki Airport, Stockholm-Bromma Airport and...
. On 19 November, Coast Air also started a route between Stord, Haugesund and Sandefjord once per week. In 2005, the company also introduced a flight between Haugesund and Molde Airport, Årø
Molde Airport, Årø
Molde Airport, Årø is located in the city of Molde in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It serves Molde and the surrounding district of Romsdal. The airport sits about east of the city. After opening in 1972, services have been mainly to Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim...
. In February 2006, the company started flying twice a day from Sandefjord to Stockholm using the Jetstream aircraft. With increased traffic and the new PSO contracts, Coast Air received a third ATR 42 aircraft in April. Restructurization led to Coast Air dropping ground services, and from 1 May 2007, SAS Ground Services handled Coast Air's planes at Haugesund. The company also introduced in-flight breakfast on all ATR 42-flights. In addition, it started with two daily round trips from Haugesund to Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, south of Copenhagen city centre, and west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. The airport lies mainly in the municipality...
in Denmark. The airline also introduced a business lounge for passengers traveling in Super Economy class. In November, another route was opened with two weekly round services from Stord to Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
in Poland.
On 23 January 2008, the board of Coast Air filed for bankruptcy. High costs made the owner Seglem loose faith in future profits. The company had lost more than NOK 100 million since 2001. It was Norway's fourth largest airline at the time. The company lost NOK 30 million in 2007, and Seglem was stated that he was tired of covering the losses of the company. He also felt that the agreement the company had with the pilots gave less working hours compared to the competitors Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA , trading as Norwegian, is the second-largest airline in Scandinavia. In 2010, it transported 13.0 million people. As of October 2011, Norwegian operates a total fleet of 62 aircraft; 17 Boeing 737-300s and 45 Boeing 737-800s...
and Danish Air Transport, and the lack of understanding from the pilots made him give up. Half the 95 employees in the company were pilots. All the aircraft were owned by the mother company Kystfly, and there were no values in the estate. DAT offered to purchase the three ATR 42 aircraft, and hire part of the crew who lost their jobs as a consequence of the bankruptcy.
Widerøe announced that it would take up the routes from Haugesund to Copenhagen. After an extraordinary PSO tender, Widerøe was awarded the flights to Røros, while Air Norway
Air Norway
Air Norway AS is a virtual, regional airline based at Ørland Airport in the town of Brekstad, the administrative centre of the municipality of Ørland, in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway...
was awarded the flights to Fagernes. With the fall of Coast Air, Stord Airport was without any scheduled routes and income, and lost NOK 350,000 per month until a new service was in place. The routes to Stord were taken over by Sun Air of Scandinavia
Sun Air of Scandinavia
Sun Air of Scandinavia is an airline based in Billund, Billund Municipality, Denmark. It is a regional scheduled airline operating a franchise service in British Airways colours. It also offers charter flights, air taxi services, specialist aerial work and aircraft brokerage. Its main base is...
, who operate Dornier 328
Dornier 328
|-See also:- References :* Swanborough, Gordon. "Dornier 328: A Daimler for Commuters". Air International, March 1992, Vol. 42 No. 3. pp. 123–128. ISSN 0306-5634....
aircraft on franchise from British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
.
Destinations
As of January 2008, Coast Air operated to the following destinations| City | Country | Airport | IATA | ICAO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen Aberdeen Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of .... |
United Kingdom | Aberdeen Airport Aberdeen Airport Aberdeen Airport is an international airport, located at Dyce, a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, approximately northwest of Aberdeen city centre. 2.76 million passengers used Aberdeen Airport in 2010, a reduction of 7.4% compared with 2009, making it the 15th busiest airport in the UK... |
ABZ | EGPD |
| Bergen Bergen Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , .... |
Norway | Bergen Airport, Flesland Bergen Airport, Flesland Bergen Airport, Flesland is an international airport located southwest of Bergen, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport in Norway, with 5,296,325 passengers in 2010. Flesland is operated by the state-owned Avinor... |
BGO | ENBR |
| Copenhagen Copenhagen Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region... |
Denmark | Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, south of Copenhagen city centre, and west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. The airport lies mainly in the municipality... |
CPH | EKCH |
| Fagernes Fagernes is the largest settlement in the valley of Valdres, Norway, with a population of 1,801. Fagernes is the administrative centre of the municipality of Nord-Aurdal.See video from the Fagernes Town : *... |
Norway | Fagernes Airport, Leirin Fagernes Airport, Leirin Fagernes Airport, Leirin serves Fagernes and the surrounding valleys of Valdres, Hallingdal and Gudbrandsdal in Southern Norway, from Oslo. Opened in 1987, it is owned and operated by state-owned Avinor. The airport is above sea level, and has a runway... |
VBD | ENFG |
| Haugesund Haugesund is a town and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.-Location:Haugesund was separated from Torvastad as a town and municipality of its own in 1855. The rural municipality of Skåre was merged with Haugesund on January 1, 1958. Haugesund is a small municipality, only 73 km²... |
Norway | Haugesund Airport, Karmøy Haugesund Airport, Karmøy Haugesund Airport, Karmøy is the airport serving the city of Haugesund in Norway. It is located on the west side of the island and municipality of Karmøy, southwest of Haugesund. The airport was opened in 1975 and is operated by Avinor.... |
HAU | ENHD |
| Molde Molde is a city and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The municipality is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord... |
Norway | Molde Airport, Årø Molde Airport, Årø Molde Airport, Årø is located in the city of Molde in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It serves Molde and the surrounding district of Romsdal. The airport sits about east of the city. After opening in 1972, services have been mainly to Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim... |
MOL | ENML |
| Oslo Oslo Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King... |
Norway | Oslo Airport, Gardermoen Oslo Airport, Gardermoen Oslo Airport, Gardermoen is the principal airport serving Oslo, Norway. It acts as the main domestic hub and international airport for Norway, and the second-busiest airport in the Nordic countries. A hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, and a focus city for Widerøe, it is... |
OSL | ENGM |
| Røros Røros is a town and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Other villages include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen.... |
Norway | Røros Airport Røros Airport Røros Airport is a regional airport serving the town of Røros in Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. The airport is located west of the town centre and opened in 1957. It is served daily by DOT LT to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen and weekly by Skyways Express to Stockholm-Arlanda Airport... |
RRS | ENRO |
| Sandefjord Sandefjord is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sandefjord. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838... |
Norway | Sandefjord Airport, Torp | TRF | ENTO |
| Stord Stord Stord is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" - as it has such a variety of landscapes: coastline, fjords, forests, agricultural land, and mountain areas.... |
Norway | Stord Airport, Sørstokken Stord Airport, Sørstokken Stord Airport, Sørstokken is a municipal regional airport located at Sørstokken in Stord, Norway. Located from Leirvik, it is the only airport with scheduled services in Sunnhordland. The airport consists of a single asphalted long 15–33 runway. It is classified as an airport of entry.Danish... |
SPR | ENSO |
| Trondheim Trondheim Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of... |
Norway | Trondheim Airport, Værnes Trondheim Airport, Værnes Trondheim Airport, Værnes is an international airport located in Stjørdal, east of Trondheim, Norway. Operated by the state-owned Avinor, it shares facilities with Værnes Air Station of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. In 2010, the airport had 3,521,734 passengers and 55,747 air movements,... |
TRD | ENVA |
| Gdańsk Gdansk Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the... |
Poland | Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport | GDN | EPGD |