History of Maersk Air informations and photos

Maersk Air was a Danish airline that operated between 1969 and 2005. Owned by the eponymous A. P. Møller–Mærsk Group, it operated a mix of scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo services. Headquartered at Dragør, its main operating bases were Copenhagen Airport, Billund Airport and Esbjerg Airport. The airline had offshore helicopter operations from 1975 to 1999 and had three airline subsidiaries: Maersk Air UK, Maersk Commuter and Star Air.

The airline was founded on the foundations on the purchase of Falck Air on 21 February 1969. Fokker F27s were bought and domestic services from Copenhagen to Odense and Stauning. From 1971 to 1995 Maersk participated in Danair, which held a monopoly on all domestic services. Maersk Air was heavily involved in the inclusive tours market during the 1970s, operating the Boeing 720 and 737-200. From 1981 Maersk started international flights, first out of Billund and from the 1990s out of Copenhagen.

Maersk Air gradually invested in new aircraft, including the Fokker 50, Boeing 737 Classic and later the 737-700. During the 1990s the number of international services increased, often codesharing with foreign airlines. With the Danish airlines deregulated in 1995, Maersk first sought to compete with Scandinavian Airlines. They then created a cartel. After being exposed, the airline fell into a decline after 2001, posting large deficits from which it never recovered. The airline was bought by the FL Group and merged with Sterling Airlines in 2005.

The A. P. Moller-Maersk Group's first invested in aviation in 1937, when it bought a stake in Danish Air Lines, Denmark's contemporary flag carrier. Work on starting their own airline started to take shape in 1967, when the executive management decided to purchase a corporate jet. They opted for a Hawker Siddeley HS 125-3B. Named Jette Mersk, it was used both to fly executives and to fly critical spare parts and mechanics around the globe to service mechanical error on board ships.

At the time there were few business opportunities for Danish airlines. The charter market was dominated by Spies Rejser and Tjæreborgs Rejser, each with their own airlines—Conair and Sterling, respectively. Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) was the flag carrier and held the sole right to conduct international scheduled services. Freight charters could only be carried out by other airlines if the entire load had a single shipper and recipient. Bjarne Hansen, who was administratively responsible for the corporate jet, made several propositions for the Maersk Group to establish an airline. After several iterations, the plans were approved by CEO Arnold Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller in 1969. The airline therefore aimed at ad-hoc charter with aircraft in the 50-seat market, and perhaps securing the rights to fly regional scheduled flights to smaller domestic airports.

To secure a running organization, Maersk bought Falck Air on 21 February 1969. There was internal disagreement about the airline's future strategy amongst its owner, the Falck Group. They therefore sold it as a discounted rate to Maersk. At the time Falck Air operated a fleet of two de Havilland Herons and two Hawker Siddeley HS 748 aircraft and a hangar at Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup. The airline had ordered three Fokker F27 Friendships, the first which was delivered on 9 December. The second was delivered on 17 December, but was written off ten days later when it crashed after failing to become airborne after a touch and go at Rønne Airport.

As part of the establishment, Maersk entered the travel agency industry. Originally named Maersk Air Rejsebureau, it was later anglicized to Maersk Travel. It gradually built up a nationwide network of travel agency outlets, in Ålborg, Århus, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Herning, Horsens, Odense and Skive. Maersk Air also bought a share of Copenhagen Airport's ground handling company, Copenhagen Air Services, in 1972, which they owned along with SAS, Conair and Sterling.

Maersk Air I/S was officially incorporated on 1 January 1970. The same day it took over the assets in Falk Air along with its air operator's certificate, concessions and the operational responsibility for the HS-125. Maersk Air I/S was organized as a partnership (interessentskab), which was again owned by two subsidiaries within the Maersk Group. This allowed the company to report less detailed accounts, and hindered competitors from gaining as good a picture of the company's financial and accounting situation. Norwegian-American Finn Rassmussen Ryssdal was hired as the airline's first director. He held the position for two years until he was replaced by another Norwegian, Johan Paus, former CEO of Scanair.

Operations to Odense Airport commenced on 26 December. Maersk received permission to operate a scheduled flight from Copenhagen to Stauning Airport from 1 November 1969. This service had previously been provided by Cimber Air. The initial scheduled operations consisted of five daily trip pairs from Copenhagen to Odense Airport, and two daily pairs to Stauning Airport.

The distribution of domestic routes was a contentious political issue. SAS held a privilege to commence any route they wished, but lacked regional airliners to serve the smaller airports. Norway and Sweden had seen extensive construction of regional and smaller primary airports earlier than in Denmark. In Norway the independent operator Braathens SAFE was allowed to operate a majority of the domestic services and in Sweden Linjeflyg had been established to fly the larger portion of domestic hauls. This had been met by skepticism in Denmark, where this was seen as a breach of the agreements establishing the SAS consortium. It also made some Danish politicians call for the establishment of a Danish domestic carrier.

Danish authorities therefore asked the three scheduled carries, SAS, Maersk and Cimber, to negotiate to see if they could reach an agreement. Consensus was reached in November 1971, whereby the company Danair was established. SAS held a 51-percent share of the company, while Maersk received 34 percent and Cimber 15 percent. Initially it was to organize domestic flights and in the long run the owners intended it to develop into a separate operator, although the latter never took place. Danair bought services from the three airlines, who retained flights to their respective destinations. Then Danair would set prices and sell tickets on the flights and the profits were paid out in relation to the ownership shares. The airlines were paid a fixed price, irrespective of their actual operating costs. Maersk fared better than SAS, as their regional airliners were more economical than SAS' Douglas DC-9 jetliners.

Flights to Vágar Airport on the Faroe Islands commenced in 1971. The airport had been served by Faroe Airways from the airport's opening in 1964 to 1968 and then in an intermediate period by SAS. Maersk took over the service as part of the Danair agreement and initially served it using F-27s. Thisted Airport opened in 1971 and Maersk was allocated as the operator. The Thisted and Stauning services were transferred to Cimber Air in 1976, although Maersk continued to operate some services. By 1973 there were 38,000 annual passengers at Thisted, but only 6,000 at Stauning. Maersk Air therefore decided in 1975 to terminate the Stauning services. This was met by opposition by four local members of Parliament. These took up the issue politically and were able to succeed at retaining the route. This resulted in the Thisted and Stauning routes were combined, giving the route Copenhagen–Stauning–Thisted–Copenhagen.

Given the nature of the mother company, Maersk Air looked at the possibilities to operate in the cargo segment. The F27s were bought with cargo doors, allowing them to be converted to freighters in half an hour. The airline aimed at buying a Boeing 747, but restrictions on freight caused these plans to be abandoned. However, they did purchase Oriental Air Transport Services, a cargo handling company based at Kastrup.

Maersk instead chose to target the inclusive tours charter market. The first customer was Karavane Rejser, who chartered a flight to Corsica. To gain better access to the market, Maersk bought two travel agents in December 1971, Raffels Rejser and Bangs Rejser. Thereafter the airline bought five used Boeing 720Bs in 1973. This was followed up with purchasing the tour operator Unisol in 1974. The three agencies were merged to form a new agency under the brand Unisol and 120,000 annual trips. Unisol—Denmark's third largest inclusive tours travel agency—was placed under the industrial department in Maersk, while the airline reported directly to the executive administration. This caused a lack of coordination between the companies and Maersk never made money from the inclusive tours operations.

Maersk Oil secured a monopoly in 1962 on exploration and extraction of any offshore petroleum in the Danish economic zone. By the 1970s they were operating oil platforms and needed helicopter transport to these. Maersk Air was contracted to perform this deed, for which it bought two Bell 212 helicopters. The airline stationed these at Esbjerg Airport and they commenced operations on 1 July 1975.

Maersk Air took delivery of its first two Boeing 737-200 Advanced in 1976. In January 1975 a Fokker F-27 was written off in a non-fatal crash during landing. At this time Maersk Air was considering introducing jetliners on the Faroe routes, but the 1,100-meter (3,600 ft) runway was a limiting factor By devising a plan whereby the flight would have a slow approach speed and received heavy-duty breaks, it was possible to introduce the Boeing 737-200 Advanced on the route. The first such service took place on 10 February 1977.

During the second half of the 1970s Maersk focused on wet leasing their larger 720-aircraft on the intercontinental market. Contracts included flying pilgrims from Morocco to Mecca and Scandinavians to North America. After having lost 100 million Danish krone (DKK) by 1979, Unisol was sold to Tjæreborg in 1980. A participating cause was Unisol's inability to profile itself in a market dominated by two high-profile, yet diametrical, owners.

Fourteen 737-200s had been delivered by 1981. Some were leased to other carries, including Guyana Airways, Malaysia Airlines and Tunisair. Others were used charter services, mostly to Danish inclusive tour operators. From 1983 three aircraft were entirely dedicated to this task. This was a highly competitive market, where Maersk had to compete with Conair, Sterling and Scanair, amongst others. The 737-200s proved too large for domestic services. The F27s had been sold and the airline therefore determined that it needed to procure new turboprops. A decision was made to buy the de Havilland Dash 7, but in the meantime the airline leased three HS 748s from 1980 to 1981. The first Dash 7 entered revenue service on 13 May 1981.

During the late 1970s Maersk Air was failing to make a profit. The revenue of DKK 535 million in 1979 fell to DKK 454 million in 1981, hitting a record loss of DKK 29 million in 1981. The company encountered problems with liquidity in 1981, when it was not able to pay its employees wages. The parent company were not willing to lend the airline any more. There was an understanding in the group's executive management that if the airline failed to get through the crisis it would be allowed for file for bankruptcy.

Bjørn Hansen was hired as CEO in 1981, carrying out a restructuring of the company. The number of bases for charter aircraft was reduced, cutting personnel costs. Eleven of the airline's twenty-four aircraft were sold. A key part of this plan was not allowing the aircraft to remain idle during the daytime, thereby maximizing revenue. The number of employees were reduced from 720 to 480. By 1985 the revenue had risen to DKK 898 million in 1985, allowing the airline to make a profit of DKK 112 million in 1985.

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