Norving


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.

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. With the take-over, Norving had ambulance aircraft covering all of Northern Norway.
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.
Norving continued to work for more regional airports in Finnmark, and was instrumental in establishing them in Berlevåg, Båtsfjord, Gamvik, Hasvik and Kjøllefjord. 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. At the most, the company had eight bases and 27 aircraft. By 1989, there was only two bases and four planes still in operation, before the company filed for bankruptcy in 1993. Subsidized routes in Northern Norway were taken over by Widerøe.

Fleet

Through its history, Norving operated the following aircraft:
ModelQuantityBuiltFirst inLast out
Piper Cub21943–4419601965
Hønningstad C5 Polar1194819601977
Beech Twin Bonanza119621963
Cessna 1801196119611963
Cessna 1855196119611971
Noorduyn Norseman21941–4419651972
Republic Seabee1194819661967
de Havilland Canada Beaver31956–6719721981
de Havilland Canada Otter1195419671982
Britten-Norman Islander81969–7619701992
Piper PA-31 Navajo71971–8019721988
Cessna 1501196919691971
Piper Cherokee1196719671972
Cessna 206111968–7719701982
Partenavia P.681197519751978
Cessna 31021975–7619751978
Cessna 40451977–8019771986
Cessna 44151975–8219791990
Beech 992196819841987
Fairchild Metroliner21981–8219831989
Dornier 22891982–8619821992
Saab 34031985–8719851989

Destinations

Destinations served by Norving: