Widerøe (Widerøes Flyveselskap)

♦ Widerøe was established on the foundations of two small aircraft operators. The first was the company Lotsberg & Skappel. The other was Widerøe & Bjørneby, which was founded by Viggo Widerøe and Halvor Bjørneby. Widerøe was founded by Viggo Wideroe and 4 friends on 19/Feb/1934. Norway”s oldest airline beginning with a service between Oslo and Haugesund on 19/Feb/1934. Shortly after this, Wideroe began postal flights to Kirkenes on behalf of DNL. Lotsberg & Skappel merged in in 1934. The company expanded into the cartography business in 1935. Widerøe carried out a cartography expedition to Antarctica in 1937, financed by Lars Christensen. In 1948, the company merged with Narvik-based Polarfly, and changed its name to Widerøe’s Flyveselskap & Polarfly. On 01/Jul/1958, the company changed its name back to Widerøe’s Flyveselskap. In 1969, the aerial photography division was sold to competitor Fjellanger, and the new company Fjellanger Widerøe was created. In 1989, Widerøe bought Norsk Air and started services from Sandefjord, which was renamed as Widerøe Norsk Air in 1991 until 1996 when it was absorbed by the parent company
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