Norving

Norving
Founded1971
Ceased operations1993
HeadquartersKirkenes, Norway

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 its peak, the company had eight bases and 27 aircraft.[1]

History

Varangfly was founded on 24 July 1959 by Bjarne Zakariassen, Bjørn Rist and Odd Bentzen. In 1971, the company merged with Tromsø-based Nor-Wings, and the following year it bought Bodø-based Nordlandsfly. At that time the airline was renamed Norving.[1] With the take-over, Norving had ambulance aircraft covering all of Northern Norway.[2]

With the construction of the regional airports in Western Troms and in Finnmark, Norving competed to get the concession for subsidies from the Ministry of Transport. The government chose instead to grant the concession to Widerøe, who had been operating the other parts of the regional airports in Western and Northern Norway.[3]

Norving continued to work for more regional airports in Finnmark, and was instrumental in establishing them in Berlevåg, Båtsfjord, Gamvik, Hasvik and Kjøllefjord.[2] During the 1980s, Norving made a massive expansion into Southern Norway, and tried to capture concessions for routes feeding the regional airport to the large cities. In particular, the airline established itself at Skien Airport, Geiteryggen, Geilo Airport, Dagali, Fagernes Airport, Leirin, Sandefjord Airport, Torp, Stord Airport, Sørstokken and Hamar Airport, Stafsberg. However, Norving could not make enough revenue to make a profit, and was forced to massively close down routes.[2] At the most, the company had eight bases and 27 aircraft.[1] By 1989, there was only two bases and four planes still in operation, before the company filed for bankruptcy in 1993.[1] Subsidized routes in Northern Norway were taken over by Widerøe.[2]

Fleet

Norving Saab 340

Through its history, Norving operated the following aircraft:[4]

Model Quantity Built First in Last out
Piper Cub 2 1943–44 1960 1965
Honningstad C.5 Polar 1 1948 1960 1977
Beech Twin Bonanza 1 1962 1963
Cessna 180 1 1961 1961 1963
Cessna 185 5 1961 1961 1971
Noorduyn Norseman 2 1941–44 1965 1972
Republic Seabee 1 1948 1966 1967
de Havilland Canada Beaver 3 1956–67 1972 1981
de Havilland Canada Otter 1 1954 1967 1982
Britten-Norman Islander 8 1969–76 1970 1992
Piper PA-31 Navajo 7 1971–80 1972 1988
Cessna 150 1 1969 1969 1971
Piper Cherokee 1 1967 1967 1972
Cessna 206 11 1968–77 1970 1982
Partenavia P.68 1 1975 1975 1978
Cessna 310 2 1975–76 1975 1978
Cessna 404 5 1977–80 1977 1986
Cessna 441 5 1975–82 1979 1990
Beech 99 2 1968 1984 1987
Fairchild Metroliner 2 1981–82 1983 1989
Dornier 228 9 1982–86 1982 1992
Saab 340 3 1985–87 1985 1989

Destinations

Destinations served by Norving:[5]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Norving.
  1. ^ a b c d Melling, Kjersti. "Boken om flyselskapet Norvings historie" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d Norwegian Aviation Museum. "100 Years of Norwegian Aviation" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  3. ^ "Norvings kontorer for langt fra Løvebakken". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). 7 July 1973. p. 3.
  4. ^ Melling, Kjersti. "Flytyper" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 30 January 2009.
  5. ^ Melling, Kjersti. "Lenker" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 30 January 2009.