SAS Braathens

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SAS Braathens is Norway's largest airline and operates from its hub Oslo-Gardemoen Airport, and is also the largest national branch of Scandinavian Airlines. SAS Braathens serves more than 40 destinations and operate more than 440 flights/day. SAS Group own 100 % of SAS Braathens. The fleet, consisting of 52 Boeing 737´s and 6 F-50´s

History

Scandinavian Airlines

Scandinavian Airlines was founded on 1 August 1946 when the flag carriers of Denmark, Sweden and Norway formed a partnership to handle intercontinental traffic to Scandinavia. Operations started on 17 September 1946. Det Norske Luftfartselskab (DNL) is the former Norweigan flag carrier was founded in 1927. The companies then started coordination of European operations in 1948 and finally merged to form the current SAS Consortium in 1951. When established the airline was divided between SAS Danmark (28.6%), SAS Norge (28.6%) and SAS Sweden (42.8%), all owned 50% by private investors and 50% by their respective governments. SAS gradually acquired control of the domestic markets in all three countries by acquiring full or partial control of several local airlines. The ownership structure of SAS was changed in June 2001, with a holding company being created in which the holdings of the governments changed to Sweden (21.4%), Norway (14.3%) and Denmark (14.3%) and the remaining 50% publicly held and traded on the stock market.

Braathens

Braathens was founded on March 26, 1946. For many years, Braathens was known as Braathens S.A.F.E, the latter part being an acronym standing for South American and Far East, for the destinations Braathens originally served. The company was founded by Norwegian ship owner Ludvig G. Braathen, with the intention of serving his ships in other parts of the world. In 2001 Braathens formed an alliance with KLM and Northwest Airlines. Alitalia was supposed to also join that alliance, but later decided not to. Braathens also dropped the SAFE from their name, and the company was known as Braathens until 2004. In 2001, after tough economic times, Braathens was bought by the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), although they were able to keep operating under their name until SAS Braathens became operative 1 April 2005.

Detail of the engine of the SAS Braathens aircraft LN-RRY "Signe Viking"

The first months of 2006 was affected by conflict, and ill pilots caused several flights to be cancelled. Negotiations between cabin personnel and management failed on April 6, leading to a strike which grounded most of the flights, though a deal between management and the unions ended the strike already on April 8. The airline company has today a large position in Norway, but the lack of reliability caused by the amount of cancelled and delayed fligths put the airline at the bottom of 140 Norwegian companies ranked after consumer confidence. The April 2006 strike benefitted SAS Braathens' main competitor, Norwegian Air Shuttle.

SAS Braathens CEO Petter Jansen was forced to leave office in June 2006 after disputes with the SAS management in Stockholm, causing much controversy and debate in Norway, since Petter Jensen was leading the only national branch of Scandinavian Airlines that made a profit.

Subsidiary airlines

SAS Group also owns Widerøe, a regional airline of Norway.

Destinations

SAS Braathens seves 42 destinations, 17 domestic and 25 European destinations.

Fleet

• 52 Boeing 737
• 6 Fokker 50

Members of the SAS Group
Scandinavian Airlines • SAS Braathens • Widerøe • Blue1 • Spanair • airBaltic Affiliated Airlines: Estonian Air • Air Greenland • Skyways Radisson SAS • Country Inn • Park Inn • Regent Hotels'''

Airlines of Norway
CHC Helikopter Service | Coast Air | Kato Air | Norsk Helikopter | Norwegian | SAS Braathens | Widerøe

Lists of Aircraft | Aircraft manufacturers | Aircraft engines | Aircraft engine manufacturers | Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation

References

• [SAS Braathens callsign]
• [SAS Braathens callsign and ICAO code]

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