Widerøe

From Wikicompany

Widerøe's Flyveselskap ASA, a subsidiary of SAS AB, is a Norwegian airline, providing scheduled and charter passenger flights, and air cargo services.

Widerøe operates the largest fleet of Dash 8 aircrafts in Europe.

The company's main base is Bodo Airport (BOO), with another base at Sandefjord Airport (TRF).

The majority of the airline's operations are under contract from the Norwegian government flying subsidised services to commercially unviable destinations.

In 2002, the company served 32 domestic and 6 international destinations, had 1,200 employees, 90,000 landings and 1.5 million passengers.

Code Data

• IATA Code: WF
• ICAO Code: WIF
• Callsign: Wideroe

Services

Wideroe operates the following services (at January 2005):

Domestic scheduled services: Bronnoysund, Forde, Hammerfest, Alta, Andenes, Batsfjord, Bergen, Berlevag, Bodo, Harstad-Narvik, Hasvik, Honningsvag, Kirkenes, Lakselv, Leknes, Mehamn, Mo I Rana, Mosjoen, Namsos, Orsta-Volda, Oslo, Roervik, Roros, Sandane, Sandnessjoen, Sogndal, Sorkjosen, Stavanger, Stokmarknes, Svolvaer, Tromso, Trondheim, Vadso and Vardoe.

International scheduled services: Aberdeen, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Newcastle and Stockholm.

Fleet

The Wideroe fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of January 2005):

• 17 Bombardier Dash 8 Q100
• 9 Bombardier Dash 8 Q300
• 3 Bombardier Dash 8 Q400

History

The airline was established and started operations on 19 February 1934, by Viggo Wideroe and four friends and provided air taxi and ambulance flights, flight training and aerial photography until after the Second World War, when it began scheduled seaplane services.

The company has served the STOL ("Short Take-Off and Landing") network in Norway since 1968, initially with a fleet of 19 seat De Havilland (now Bombardier) Twin Otters, later with De Havilland Dash 7, and now with larger aircraft.

The airline was reorganised in 1970, to play a more leading role in the development of scheduled air services in rural districts, and development into a pure scheduled airline was completed by an injection of new capital.

In November 1997 SAS AB purchased 29% of Wideroe's shares, since increased to 99.6%.

External links

• Wideroe passenger opinions
• Scanair on Widerøe
• Widerøe Aircraft