History of Widerøe
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Widerøe's Flyveselskap ASA, is a regional airline based in Bodø Norway, established by
Viggo Widerøe, Einar Isdahl and Arild Widerøe on 19 February 1934. The airline started off with a combination of scheduled, aerial photography and general aviation services using seaplanes. It lost its route concessions to Norwegian Air Lines in 1935 and was subsequently bought by that company, for whom it operated several minor routes. World War II hindered Widerøe from operating any flights between 1939 and 1945. After the war Widerøe started flying various seaplane routes that were too small for DNL and its successor, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). These routes were commonly flown using Noorduyn Norseman and de Havilland Canada Otter aircraft. During the 1960s Widerøe attempted operating Douglas DC-3s for charter flights, but soon closed those operations.
A national network of regional airports started being constructed in the late 1960s and Widerøe was awarded the right to operate the subsidized routes. From 1968 the airline introduced the Twin Otter, which it eventually operated a dozen of. From 1981 de Havilland Canada Dash 7s were introduced on the main routes. Widerøe experienced four fatal accidents between 1982 and 1993. Norsk Air was bought in 1989, after Fred. Olsen & Co. became a majority owner, and between 1993 and 2000 Widerøe replaced its entire fleet with the de Havilland Canada Dash 8. With the deregulation of the airline market in 1994, Widerøe started several international routes and from 1997 the regional network became subject to public service obligations (PSO). The SAS Group bought the airline between 1997 and 2002. Widerøe then gradually took over all the group's regional operations in Norway.