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76-701: The airline was established in 1934 by Viggo Widerøe , a notable Norwegian aviator, and was engaged in various general aviation activities in its early days. In 1936, Widerøe started scheduled seaplane flights and, from 1940, also ambulance flights. During the 1940s and 1950s, the airline increased its seaplane routes and established a fleet based on de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter and Noorduyn Norseman aircraft. From 1968, Widerøe started flying to STOLports in northern and western Norway using DHC-6 Twin Otters , and later also with Dash 7 aircraft . In 1989, Widerøe bought Norsk Air and started services from Sandefjord. During

152-461: A German invasion of Norwegian territory. After the rapid occupation of Denmark, in which the Danish military was ordered to stand down as Denmark's government did not declare war with Germany, German envoys informed the governments of Denmark and Norway that Germany's forces had come to protect both countries against Anglo-French attacks. Significant differences in geography , location and climate between

228-684: A close regional partner of SAS. In July 2023, Norwegian Air Shuttle announced a deal to acquire Widerøe for 1.125 billion  kr ( US$ 104 million ), which was finalised in January 2024. Public service obligation services to regional airports make up slightly less than half of Widerøe's operations. The remaining services are to primary airports in northern Norway, and services from Sandefjord and Bergen to other primary airports, and some international services from Oslo , Sandefjord, Kristiansand , Stavanger , Bergen , and Trondheim . Widerøe's operations are focused on point-to-point transit , although

304-507: A full army corps , including a mountain division, an airborne division , a motorized rifle brigade and two infantry divisions. The target objectives of the force were the Norwegian capital, Oslo , and other population centres: Bergen , Narvik, Tromsø , Trondheim , Kristiansand and Stavanger . The plan also called for the swift capture of the Kings of Denmark and Norway in the hope of triggering

380-616: A legal sense to the Germans, leaving the Quisling government illegitimate. The Norwegian government-in-exile based in London remained, therefore, an Allied nation in the war. At 7:06 pm 5 Norwegian fighters were sent into battle to combat a wave of 70–80 enemy planes. German airborne troops landed at the Oslo airport Fornebu , Kristiansand airport Kjevik , and Sola Air Station – the latter constituting

456-644: A limited number of services also connecting to two of the three primary airports in Finnmark— Alta and Kirkenes . Between Tromsø and Bodø, Widerøe serves six airports, of which two connect to Tromsø and all to Bodø. South of Bodø, there are six airports in Helgeland and Namdalen , which are all connected to Bodø and Trondheim Airport, Værnes. In Sogn og Fjordane and Sunnmøre , Widerøe connects four airports to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen and Bergen Airport, Flesland. Widerøe's main domestic hauling between primary airports

532-589: A limited, last-minute alert. Late in the evening of 8 April 1940, Kampfgruppe 5 was spotted by the Norwegian guard vessel Pol III . Pol III was fired at; her captain Leif Welding-Olsen became the first Norwegian killed in action during the invasion. German ships then sailed up the Oslofjord leading to the Norwegian capital, reaching the Drøbak Narrows ( Drøbaksundet ). In the early morning of 9 April,

608-544: A little over 8,000. The operation's military headquarters was Hotel Esplanade in Hamburg, where orders were given to, among others, the air units involved in the invasion. Norway was important to Germany for two primary reasons: as a base for naval units, including U-boats, to weaken Allied shipping in the North Atlantic, and to secure shipments of iron ore from Sweden through the port of Narvik . The long northern coastline

684-499: A man lost overboard, was sunk by Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and two destroyers belonging to the German invasion fleet. On 9 April, the German invasion was under way, and the execution of Plan R 4 was promptly started. Strategically, Denmark's importance to Germany was as a staging area for operations in Norway. Considering its status as a minor nation bordering Germany, it

760-520: A rapid surrender. On 21 February 1940, command of the operation was given to General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst . He had fought in Finland during the First World War and was familiar with Arctic warfare , but he would have command of only the ground forces, despite Hitler's desire to have a unified command. The final plan was codenamed "Operation Weserübung" on 27 January 1940. The ground forces would be

836-593: Is from its base at Sandefjord Airport, Torp. Services are provided up to five times per day to Trondheim, Stavanger and Bergen, as well as seasonal services to Bodø and Tromsø. In Northern Norway, Widerøe operates some services connecting primary airports, including the links from Tromsø to Alta, Hammerfest , Kirkenes and Vadsø Airport , and connecting Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes to Tromsø, Bodø and Trondheim. International services are provided to and from five Norwegian airports to seven foreign airports in Sweden, Denmark and

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912-525: Is the first and only airline in the world to operate every single variant of the Dash 8 simultaneously, and is one of the few airlines to ever operate all variants of the Dash 8, as well as the older DHC-6 Twin Otter and Dash 7. In January 2017, Widerøe announced it had signed a contract with Embraer for up to 15 new Embraer E2-E190 jets, with firm orders for three E190-E2 aircraft and purchase rights on 12 more jets from

988-623: The Malmbanan railway line from Narvik to Luleå in Sweden on the shore of the Gulf of Bothnia . This would also allow Allied forces to occupy Swedish iron mines in Norrland. The plan received the support of both Chamberlain and Halifax. They were counting on the co-operation of Norway, which would alleviate some of the legal issues, but stern warnings issued to both Norway and Sweden by Germany resulted in strongly negative reactions in both countries. Planning for

1064-589: The Antarctic with the goal to take aerial photography of the continent's coast. About 80,000 square kilometres (31,000 sq mi) were covered. In 1937, a personal tragedy struck as Arild Widerøe and other family members lost their lives in an air accident at the Port of Oslo . Two years later, civil aviation was put on hold due to hardships with supply of fuel. Nonetheless, Widerøe provided flight training for exiled Finns during their Winter War of 1939. In 1940, Norway

1140-518: The Norsk Aero Klubb . On 19 January 1934, Viggo Widerøe founded the company Widerøe's Flyveselskap along with his brother Arild Widerøe and Einar Isdahl. They raised 25,000  kr and Viggo went to the United States, where he bought a Waco cabin biplane that he flew home himself. Postal services started on the 18. June on the route Oslo – Kristiansand – Stavanger – Haugesund, making Viggo

1216-646: The Norwegian Intelligence Service , as a part of the Cold War , and was in charge of a military aviation school at Hønefoss Airport, Eggemoen from 1950 to 1952. He was decorated with the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1954, and Mount Widerøe in Antarctica was named after him. On the other hand, Viggo never made much money from starting the company. He was in debt until the 1980s, and by

1292-588: The Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service and received a pilot's licence the following year. He became a conscript pilot for the RNNAS until 1 January 1928, when he was appointed officer. Widerøe took his civilian pilot's licence on 13 June 1930 with Norske Luftruter and worked for the company until the end of summer of 1930. Two years later, Viggo Widerøe bought John Strandrud's shares in Rundflyvning , that

1368-569: The Storstrøm Bridge as well as the fortress of Masnedø , the latter being the first recorded attack in the world made by paratroopers. At 04:20 local time, a reinforced battalion of German infantrymen from the 308th Regiment landed in Copenhagen harbour from the minelayer Hansestadt Danzig , quickly capturing the Danish garrison at the Citadel without encountering resistance. From the harbour,

1444-681: The Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in November 1939 changed the strategic situation. Churchill again proposed his mining scheme but once again was denied. In December 1939, the United Kingdom and France began serious planning for sending aid to Finland. Their plan called for a force to land in Narvik, in northern Norway, the main port for Swedish iron ore exports and then to take control of

1520-468: The first opposed paratrooper attack in history ; coincidentally, among the Luftwaffe pilots landing at Kjevik was Reinhard Heydrich . Vidkun Quisling's radio-effected coup d'etat at 7:30 pm on 9 April was another first. At 8:30 pm the Norwegian destroyer Æger was attacked and sunk outside Stavanger by ten Junkers Ju 88 bombers, after it sank the German cargo ship MS  Roda . Roda

1596-581: The 1990s, Widerøe replaced all its aircraft with Dash 8 aircraft; in the 2000s it was bought by the SAS Group and took over SAS Commuter 's operations in northern Norway. In 2010, Widerøe took over regional SAS services in western Norway. In 2013, SAS Group sold 80% of the shares to WF Holding, an investment company controlled by Torghatten ASA , and in June 2016 the remaining 20% of the shares were transferred to WF Holding, ending SAS ownership of Widerøe, albeit still as

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1672-693: The 1990s, he only had shares for NOK 3,000. After retirement, Viggo remained in Oslo during the summer, but spent his winters in L'Alfàs del Pi in Spain. He died in January 2002 in Oslo. Operation Weser%C3%BCbung Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups Finland Iceland Norway 1941 1942 1943 1944 1942 1943 1944 1945 Operation Weserübung ( German : Unternehmen Weserübung [ˈveːzɐˌʔyːbʊŋ] , transl.  Operation Weser Exercise , 9 April – 10 June 1940)

1748-828: The Allies evacuated from Åndalsnes on 1 May. Resistance in Southern Norway then came to an end. Hegra Fortress continued to resist German attacks until 5 May – it was of Allied propaganda importance, like Narvik. King Haakon VII , Crown Prince Olav , and the Cabinet Nygaardsvold left from Tromsø 7 June aboard the British cruiser HMS  Devonshire to represent Norway in exile. The King would return to Oslo on that exact date five years later. Crown Princess Märtha and children, denied asylum in her native Sweden, later left from Petsamo , Finland, to live in exile in

1824-484: The Atlantic were to be stopped for the submarines to aid in the operation. All available submarines, including some training boats, were used as part of Operation Hartmut in support of Operation Weserübung. Initially, the plan was to invade Norway and to gain control of Danish airfields by diplomatic means. However, Hitler issued a new directive on 1 March that called for the invasion of both Norway and Denmark. That came at

1900-518: The British decided to send an expeditionary force to Norway just as the Winter War was winding down. The force began boarding on 13 March, but it was recalled and the operation cancelled because of the end of the Winter War. Instead, the Chamberlain war ministry voted to proceed with the mining operation in Norwegian waters, followed by troop landings. On 5 April 1940, the long-planned Operation Wilfred

1976-645: The Embraer E2 family. The airline is the first operator of the E190-E2 aircraft. The aircraft is Widerøe's first jet aircraft, after previously operating an all-turboprop fleet. In April 2018, Wideroe received its first Embraer E190-E2. The delivery was the first E2 aircraft to be delivered to an airline. It was handed over to Wideroe by Embraer in a large ceremony, with both Embraer and Wideroe staff as well as media present. Its first revenue flight occurred on 24 April 2018. The Dash 8-100, Dash 8-200 and Dash 8-300 can operate on

2052-543: The German tanker Altmark in Norwegian waters. The crew of Cossack overpowered the tanker's crew and rescued British prisoners of war onboard the ship, whose presence Norwegian authorities had repeatedly ignored. Both the attack and the transportation of prisoners of war into Norwegian waters by Altmark violated Norway's neutrality. Hitler regarded the incident as a clear sign that the Allies were also willing to violate Norwegian neutrality, which made him become even more strongly committed to invading Norway. On 12 March,

2128-426: The Germans during the war. The rapid Danish capitulation resulted in the uniquely-lenient occupation of Denmark , particularly until the summer of 1943, and in postponing the arrest and deportation of Danish Jews until nearly all of them were warned and on their way to refuge in neutral Sweden . In the end, 477 Danish Jews were deported, and 70 of them lost their lives, out of a pre-war total of Jews and half-Jews at

2204-500: The Germans moved toward Amalienborg Palace to capture the Danish royal family. By the time the invasion forces arrived at the king's residence, the King's Royal Guard had been alerted and other reinforcements were on their way to the palace. The first German attack on Amalienborg was repulsed, giving Christian X and his ministers time to confer with the Danish Army chief General Prior . As

2280-556: The Germans recaptured Narvik, which was also now abandoned by civilians because of massive Luftwaffe bombing. Operation Weserübung did not include a military assault on neutral Sweden because there was no strategic reason. By holding Norway, the Danish straits and most of the shores of the Baltic Sea, the Third Reich encircled Sweden from the north, the west and the south. In the east, there

2356-832: The Royal Navy and the landing force of ten destroyers of the Kriegsmarine. Both parties lost two destroyers, but on 13 April a British attack by the battleship HMS  Warspite and a flotilla of destroyers succeeded in sinking the remaining eight German destroyers, which were trapped in Narvik because of lack of fuel. The towns Nybergsund, Elverum, Åndalsnes , Molde , Kristiansund N , Steinkjer , Namsos , Bodø , and Narvik were devastated by German bombing; some of them were tactically bombed, others terror-bombed. The main German land campaign advanced northward from Oslo with superior equipment; Norwegian soldiers with turn-of-the-century weapons, along with some British and French troops, stopped

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2432-485: The United Kingdom. From Sandefjord and Trondheim, Widerøe connects to Scandinavian Airlines' hub at Copenhagen Airport . From Oslo, Widerøe operates four daily services to Göteborg Landvetter Airport , as well as summer routes to Visby Airport and Bornholm Airport . From Bergen and Stavanger, Widerøe serves Aberdeen Airport . From Bergen Widerøe fly to Liverpool John Lennon Airport and London Heathrow and from Stavanger; Newcastle Airport . In 2010, Widerøe took over

2508-496: The United States. The Norwegian Army in mainland Norway capitulated on 10 June 1940, two months after Wesertag. That made Norway the occupied country that had withstood a German invasion for the longest time before succumbing. Despite the surrender of the main Norwegian forces, the Royal Norwegian Navy and other armed forces continued fighting the Germans abroad and at home until the German capitulation on 8 May 1945. In

2584-534: The XXI Army Corps, including the 3rd Mountain Division and five infantry divisions; none of the latter had yet been tested in battle. The first phase would consist of three divisions for the assault, with the remainder to follow in the next wave. Three companies of fallschirmjagers would be used to seize airfields. The decision to also send the 2nd Mountain Division was made later. Almost all U-boat operations in

2660-618: The airline essentially feeds medium-haul and international airlines. Widerøe has interlining agreements and participates in EuroBonus for international flights. The company's head offices are in Bodø , although it retains a large administrative center in Oslo and a smaller office in Mosjøen . The main bases are Sandefjord, Bodø , Tromsø , Bergen, and Oslo. Widerøe also has a technical base in Florø . Widerøe

2736-499: The belief that it would repeat World War I . Therefore, the British began to consider naval blockades against Germany if war broke out. German industry was heavily dependent on the import of iron ore from Swedish mines in Norrland , and much of that ore was shipped through the Norwegian port of Narvik during the winter months. Control of the Norwegian coast would serve to tighten a potential blockade against Germany. In October 1939,

2812-458: The chief of the Kriegsmarine , Grand-Admiral Erich Raeder , discussed with Adolf Hitler the danger posed by potential Allied bases in Norway and the possibility of Germany pre-emptively seizing those location. The Kriegsmarine argued that a German occupation of Norway would allow control of the nearby seas and serve as a platform for staging submarine operations against the Allies. However,

2888-415: The company began an aerial photography operation. In 1953, the company chose to differentiate and started production of emergency rafts; refrigerated garages in aluminium; and thermoelements for industry. In 1954, the company received a subcontract from Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), the successor of DNL, to operate a seaplane route from Tromsø via Alta, Hammerfest, and Kirkenes to Vadsø. For this route,

2964-430: The company bought its first de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter. On 1 July 1958, the company changed its name back to Widerøe's Flyveselskap A/S. In 1969, Per Bergsland replaced Viggo Widerøe as CEO. In 1970, the company was split in two: the aerial photography division was sold to competitor Fjellanger, and the new company Fjellanger Widerøe was created. Scheduled services remained with Widerøe. The airline's last seaplane

3040-513: The company's Bogstad workshop and Birger Hønningstad started a joint venture in which Widerøe built Hønningstad Norge aircraft. Following the outbreak of World War II , all pilots were conscripted into the military and there was a ban on civilian aviation. In 1940, the company started air ambulance flights for the military. Following the German invasion of Norway , many of Widerøe's pilots and aircraft were flown to Mjøsa where they served as part of

3116-616: The country from Anglo-French attacks. The German ambassador demanded that Danish resistance cease immediately and that contact be made between Danish authorities and the German armed forces. If the demands were not met, the Luftwaffe would bomb the capital, Copenhagen . As the German demands were communicated, the first German advances had already been made, with forces landing on a regular commercial ferry in Gedser at 03:55 and moving north. German Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) units had made unopposed landings and taken two airfields at Aalborg ,

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3192-466: The defence . All civilian aircraft were grounded during the occupation , and German authorities demanded that magnetos and propellers be handed in. The workshop at Bogstad was kept busy with the production of ambulance sleds for the German military. In secret, the company also started building the Hønningstad C-5 Polar ambulance aircraft at Bogstad. After the liberation of Norway in 1945, there

3268-563: The discussions were ongoing, several formations of Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17 bombers roared over the city dropping leaflets headed, in Danish, OPROP! (proclamation). At 05:25, two squadrons of German Messerschmitt Bf 110s attacked Værløse airfield on Zealand and neutralised the Danish Army Air Service by strafing . Despite Danish anti-aircraft fire , the German fighters destroyed ten Danish aircraft and seriously damaged another fourteen, thereby wiping out half of

3344-442: The entire Army Air Service. Faced with the explicit threat of the Luftwaffe bombing the civilian population of Copenhagen, and with only General Prior in favour of fighting on, King Christian and the entire Danish government capitulated at approximately 06:00, in exchange for retaining political independence in domestic matters. The invasion of Denmark lasted less than six hours and was the shortest military campaign conducted by

3420-722: The expedition continued, but the justification for it was removed after the Moscow Peace Treaty between Finland and the Soviet Union had been signed in March 1940 and ended the Winter War. Following a meeting with Vidkun Quisling from Norway on 14 December, Hitler turned his attention to Scandinavia. Convinced of the threat posed by the Allies to the iron ore supply, Hitler ordered the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht to begin preliminary planning for an invasion of Norway. The preliminary plan

3496-642: The far north, Norwegian, French and Polish troops, supported by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force (RAF), fought against the Germans over the control of the Norwegian harbour Narvik, important for the year-round export of Swedish iron ore. The Germans were driven out of Narvik on 28 May, but the deteriorating situation on the European continent made the Allied troops withdraw in Operation Alphabet , and on 9 June,

3572-448: The first person to fly a scheduled, domestic flight in Norway. In 1936, all concessions for scheduled flights were transferred to Det Norske Luftfartselskap (DNL), and Widerøe had to start again with photography, schools and charter flights. But at the same time, DNL bought 51% of Wideøe's Flyveselskap, and they were subcontracted some postal flights. In the winter of 1936–1937, Viggo attended an expedition by Lars Christensen in

3648-640: The fortress (and the mistaken belief that mines had contributed to the sinking) delayed the rest of the naval invasion group long enough for the Royal Family , the Cabinet and members of Parliament to be evacuated, along with the national treasury . On their flight northward by special train, the court encountered the Battle of Midtskogen and bombs at Elverum and Nybergsund . As the Norwegian king and his legitimate government were not captured, Norway never surrendered in

3724-469: The gunners at Oscarsborg Fortress fired on the leading ship, Blücher , which had been illuminated by spotlights at about 04:15. Two of the fortress guns were 48-year-old German-made Krupp guns (nicknamed Moses and Aron ) of 280 mm (11 in) caliber. Within two hours, the badly damaged ship, unable to manoeuvre in the narrow fjord from multiple artillery and torpedo hits , sank with very heavy loss of life totalling 600–1,000 men. The threat from

3800-457: The insistence of the Luftwaffe to capture fighter bases and sites for air warning stations. The XXXI Corps , formed for the invasion of Denmark, consisted of two infantry divisions and the 11th motorized brigade. The entire operation would be supported by the X Air Corps, which consisted of some 1,000 aircraft of various types. In February, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS  Cossack boarded

3876-646: The invaders for a time before yielding; this was the first land combat between the British Army and the Wehrmacht in World War II. In land battles at Narvik, Norwegian and Allied forces under General Carl Gustav Fleischer achieved the first major tactical victory against the Wehrmacht in WWII. German forces then overpowered Norwegian troops at Gratangen. The King and his cabinet evacuated from Molde to Tromsø on 29 April, and

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3952-503: The many short runway airports in Norway, on which Widerøe is the main operator. Widerøe was the launch customer of Dash 8-100 extended service program. The program extends the economic life of the turboprop by 50% to 120,000 flight cycles. Widerøe plans to replace most of its Dash-8 aircraft by 2030. EuroBonus frequent flyer points can be earned on all international routes and certain commercial domestic routes. Points can be redeemed on international routes and domestic routes not part of

4028-522: The open waters of the North Sea , where the Royal Navy could intercept them. Churchill assumed that Wilfred would provoke a German response and that the Allies would then implement Plan R 4 and occupy Norway. Though later implemented, Operation Wilfred was initially rejected by Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax for fear of an adverse reaction among neutral nations such as the United States. The start of

4104-617: The other branches of the Wehrmacht were not interested, and Hitler issued a directive stating that the main effort would be a land offensive through the Low Countries . Toward the end of November 1939, Winston Churchill , as a new member of the Chamberlain war ministry , proposed the mining of Norwegian waters in Operation Wilfred . This would force the ore transports to travel through

4180-488: The public service obligation. [REDACTED] Media related to Widerøe at Wikimedia Commons Viggo Wider%C3%B8e Viggo Widerøe (13 August 1904 – 8 January 2002) was a Norwegian aviator and entrepreneur . He founded Widerøe's Flyveselskap , Norway's third largest airline, in 1934. The airline is still in operation today. Viggo Widerøe was born in Kristiania as a son of the mercantile agent Theodor Widerøe (1868–1947) and Carla Johanne Launer (1875–1971). He

4256-483: The regional routes previously operated by SAS in Western Norway; these connect Kristiansand and Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget to Stavanger and Bergen, and Haugesund and Molde to Bergen. These routes will replace the SAS Fokker 50 aircraft with -300 and Q400 aircraft. In 2016 the airline was awarded a five-year contract by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications to operate 13 of Norway's Public Service Obligation routes and will start operating

4332-437: The routes in April 2017. Widerøe has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of February 2020): As of July 2024, Widerøe operates the following aircraft: Between 2000 and 2018, the airline operated exclusively de Havilland Canada / Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft. As of 2018, Widerøe was the world's largest operator of the Dash 8-100 series, after Piedmont Airlines retired their fleet . As of 2013, Widerøe

4408-414: The two nations made the actual military operations very dissimilar. The invasion fleet's nominal landing time, Weserzeit (Weser Time), was set to 05:15. By the spring of 1939, the British Admiralty began to view Scandinavia as a potential theatre of war in a future conflict with Nazi Germany . However, the British government was reluctant to engage in another land conflict on the continent in

4484-446: Was a brother of the engineer and accelerator physicist Rolf Widerøe , and grew up at Vinderen . In 1935 he married Solveig Agnes Schrøder (1914–1989); they had the daughter Turi Widerøe . Through her, Viggo Widerøe was the father-in-law of Karl Erik Harr between 1972 and 1975. Reportedly, Viggo Widerøe decided to become an aviator already in 1910. This was one year after the start of aviation in Kristiania. In 1924, Widerøe joined

4560-525: Was also seen as a country that would have to fall at some point. Given Denmark's position on the Baltic Sea , the country was also crucial for the control of naval and shipping access to major German and Soviet harbours. At 04:00 on 9 April 1940, the German ambassador to Denmark, Cecil von Renthe-Fink , called the Danish Foreign Minister Peter Munch and requested a meeting with him. When the two men met 20 minutes later, Renthe-Fink declared that German troops were then moving in to occupy Denmark to protect

4636-453: Was an excellent place to launch U-boat operations into the North Atlantic to attack British commerce. Germany was dependent on iron ore from Sweden and was worried, with justification, that the Allies would attempt to disrupt those shipments, 90% of which originating from Narvik. The invasion of Norway was given to the XXI Army Corps under General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst and consisted of the following main units: The initial invasion force

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4712-483: Was based in Drammen , and started as a pilot. In 1933, Viggo Widerøe established the company Widerøe & Bjørneby along with Halvor Bjørneby and bought a Simmonds Spartan . In all these companies, activity was concentrated at aerial photography , advertisement flying, air shows, demonstrations and charter passenger flights. Widerøe lay much emphasis on increasing the public interest in aviation throughout South Norway , and arranged flight shows in 1933 and 1934 through

4788-496: Was carrying a clandestine cargo of anti-aircraft artillery and ammunition for the German invasion force. Bergen, Stavanger, Egersund , Kristiansand, Arendal , Horten , Trondheim and Narvik were attacked and occupied within 24 hours. Ineffective resistance by the Norwegian armoured coastal defence ships Norge and Eidsvold took place at Narvik. Both ships were torpedoed and sunk with great loss of life. On 10 April The First Battle of Narvik took place between five destroyers of

4864-526: Was converted to ten year of prison after he held his speech of defence in German . He was transferred to Grini concentration camp in July 1941 as #352 of almost 20,000 prisoners. Another aerial pioneer Helge Skappel was imprisoned as well, and they spent prison time in Åkebergveien from October to November 1941, before being shipped to Germany via Akershus Fortress . He was imprisoned in Hamburg-Fühlsbuttel from 13 January 1942, and later three other camps in Rendsburg , Dreibergen and Dieburg until he

4940-665: Was decommissioned in 1971. In April 1980, Widerøe started an international service on behalf of SAS. Widerøe has been awarded public service obligation contracts by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to connect regional airports to primary airports. Twenty-five such airports were served in a contract running from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2012, with the company having lost the bid for services to three. The services connect smaller communities and towns to regional centers and to primary airports that provide onwards service with jet aircraft . Eight airports in Finnmark county and one in Troms county are connected to Tromsø Airport, with

5016-416: 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. During the winter, they stationed aircraft at mountain resorts and made revenue from flying skiers into the wilderness. Aerial advertising flights were introduced, in which a company or product name

5092-451: Was established, after he had moved to Stockholm in Sweden. In SAS, he mainly worked with headhunting people for the new company. In 1947, DNL sold its stake in Widerøe's Flyveselskap to Forenede Industrier . Viggo was headhunted to become managing director, a position he held until 1969. But he continued to also work as a pilot for the company until 1954, when he took last flight. He also flew secret reconnaissance missions in Finnmark for

5168-399: Was invaded by Germany as a part of World War II . Viggo joined Milorg , part of the Norwegian resistance. He helped young Norwegian men to flee the country to become war pilots based in foreign countries. Soon, he became a suspect in the eyes of German forces. He was arrested for espionage in May 1941, and was imprisoned at Møllergata 19 for two months. He was sentenced to death, but this

5244-445: Was liberated in March 1945. For the rest of the war, he worked as a secretary and interpreter for the American General George Patton . His wife was also involved in Norwegian resistance work. After the war, Widerøe was employed as assisting director in the Norwegian Aviation Authority from 1945 to 1946. He then became chief inspector of DNL, and then became one of the first Norwegian employees when Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS)

5320-514: Was named Studie Nord and called for only one division of German troops carry out the invasion. Between 14 and 19 January, the Kriegsmarine developed an expanded version of this plan. It decided upon two key factors: surprise was essential to reduce the threat of Norwegian resistance (and Allied intervention), and faster German warships, rather than comparatively slow merchant ships, should be used as troop transports. That would allow all targets to be occupied simultaneously. The new plan called for

5396-526: Was painted on an aircraft's fuselage, with a neon-light version underneath, and leaflets dropped mid-flight. On 19 February 1934, Widerøe's Flyveselskap A/S was founded by Viggo Widerøe, Einar Isdahl, and Arild Widerøe. In 1935, the company started in the cartography business. In 1937, the company made 44 flights along the coast of Antarctica , covering 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) of coast at least 50 kilometres (31 mi) inland. These flights were ordered by Lars Christensen for cartography. During 1938,

5472-478: Was put into action, and a Royal Navy squadron led by the battlecruiser HMS  Renown left Scapa Flow to mine Norwegian waters. The first German ships set sail for the invasion on 7 April 1940 at 3:00 a.m. The mine fields were laid in the Vestfjorden in the early morning of 8 April. Operation Wilfred was over, but later that day, the destroyer HMS  Glowworm , which detached on 7 April to search for

5548-522: Was still a flight ban, and the employees at Bogstad were hired by the Royal Norwegian Air Force at Oslo Airport, Fornebu . The company received permission to fly from 2 February 1946. In 1947, Forenede Industrier bought the majority of the company. Viggo Widerøe was again hired as managing director. In 1948, the company merged with Narvik-based Polarfly , and changed its name to Widerøe's Flyveselskap & Polarfly A/S. The following year,

5624-637: Was the Soviet Union, the successor of Sweden's and Finland's archenemy, Russia, on friendly terms with Hitler under the terms of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . A small number of Finnish volunteers helped the Norwegian Army against Germans in an ambulance unit. Swedish and Finnish trade was dependent on the Kriegsmarine , and Germany put pressure on neutral Sweden to permit transit of military goods and soldiers on leave . On 18 June 1940, an agreement

5700-466: Was the invasion of Denmark and Norway by Nazi Germany during World War II . It was the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign . In the early morning of 9 April 1940 ( Wesertag , "Weser Day"), German forces occupied Denmark and invaded Norway, ostensibly as a preventive manoeuvre against a planned Anglo-French occupation of Norway known as Plan R 4 , which developed as a response to

5776-453: Was transported in several groups by ships of the Kriegsmarine : Shortly after noon on 8 April, the clandestine German troopship SS  Rio de Janeiro was sunk off Lillesand by the Polish submarine ORP  Orzeł , part of the Royal Navy's 2nd Submarine Flotilla. However, the news of the sinking reached the appropriate levels of officialdom in Oslo too late to do much more than trigger

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