Bering Air is an American

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

headquartered in

Nome, Alaska Nome (; , , also ''Sitŋazuaq'', ''Siqnazuaq'') is a city in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough, Alaska, Unorganized Borough of the US state of Alaska. The city is located on the southern Seward Peninsula c ...

, United States. It operates domestic scheduled passenger and charter airline services, as well as

air ambulance Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation an ...

and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

services. Its main base is Nome Airport, with hubs at Ralph Wien Memorial Airport ( Kotzebue) and Unalakleet Airport.

History

In early 1975, Jim Rowe and three college friends embarked on a journey from northern Michigan, and traveled across

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in a Cessna 195, landing in Mexico's Baja California peninsula, and eventually settling on the beaches of

. A few years later, in September 1979, Bering Air was established. It commenced operations on October 3, 1979, with a single

De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single-engined, high-wing, Propeller (aircraft), propeller-driven, short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same role ...

. Later, in 1983, with instigation of the increasingly popular bypass mail system, the airline added other small aircraft, including the

Piper Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of twin-engined low-wing tricycle gear utility aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for small cargo and feeder airlines, and as a corporate aircraft. Production ran from 1967 to 1984. It was licen ...

, Beech 18, and Piper Seneca. Bering Air, in favor of modern,

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...

powered aircraft, later phased out aircraft equipped with radial engines. Thus, the Beechcraft King Air 200,

Beechcraft 1900 The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring ...

Cessna Caravan The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna. The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargoma ...

, and CASA C-212 were introduced. Furthermore, off airport duties were transferred to

helicopters A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

, instead of older piston powered aircraft. In 2015, the airline upgraded its fleet with eight Cessna 208EX Grand Caravan aircraft replacing its older Cessna 208B aircraft. Today, the airline is wholly owned by Jim Rowe (President) and Christine Rowe. In July 2020 Bering Air bought at Ravn Alaska's bankruptcy auction the facilities in Aniak, Kotzebue, Nome and Unalakleet.

Fleet

As of February 2025, the Bering Air fleet consists of the following aircraft: Beechcraft 1900 of Bering Air

Retired fleet

Bering Air has previously operated the following aircraft:

Community services

Bering Air, along with Grant Aviation, Frontier Flying Service, Northern Air Cargo, PenAir, and Ryan Air Services, participates in the Flying Can service, which allows rural Alaskan communities to recycle aluminum cans and now number 1

PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...

bottles in cooperation with Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling. Bering Air provides free delivery on scheduled flights for Airport Pizza, a

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. A pizzeria may offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then takes the prepared food with them in a pizza box. A pizzeria may deliver food to ...

at Nome Airport that takes orders from remote locations served by Bering Air.

Destinations

Passenger and cargo charter services are flown from Kotzebue and Nome to destinations throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Domestic

Bering Air offers scheduled passenger service to 29 cities in Western Alaska from hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. # Ambler (ABL) – Ambler Airport # Brevig Mission (KTS) – Brevig Mission Airport # Buckland (BKC) – Buckland Airport # Cape Lisburne (LUR) – Cape Lisburne LRRS Airport # Deering (DRG) – Deering Airport # Elim (ELI) – Elim Airport # Gambell (GAM) – Gambell Airport # Golovin (GLV) – Golovin Airport # Kiana (IAN) – Bob Baker Memorial Airport # Kivalina (KVL) – Kivalina Airport # Kobuk (OBU) – Kobuk Airport # Kotzebue (OTZ) – Ralph Wien Memorial Airport # Koyuk (KKA) – Koyuk Alfred Adams Airport # Noatak (WTK) –

Noatak Airport Noatak Airport ( Iñupiaq: ''Nuataam Mirvia'') is a state-owned public-use airport located one nautical mile (1.85 km) southwest of the central business district of Noatak, in the Northwest Arctic Borough of the U.S. state in Alaska. Fac ...

# Nome (OME) – Nome Airport # Noorvik (ORV) – Robert (Bob) Curtis Memorial Airport # Point Hope (PHO) – Point Hope Airport # St. Michael (SMK) – St. Michael Airport # Savoonga (SVA) – Savoonga Airport # Selawik (WLK) – Selawik Airport #

Shaktoolik Shaktoolik (, ; ) is a city in Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census the population was 251, up from 230 in 2000. Shaktoolik is one of a number of Alaskan communities threatened by erosion and rela ...

(SKK) – Shaktoolik Airport # Shishmaref (SHH) – Shishmaref Airport # Shungnak (SHG) – Shungnak Airport # Stebbins (WBB) – Stebbins Airport # Teller (TLA) –

Teller Airport Teller Airport is a state-owned public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) south of the central business district of Teller, a city in the Nome Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska. Facilities and aircraft Teller Airport ...

# Tin City (TNC) – Tin City LRRS Airport # Unalakleet (UNK) – Unalakleet Airport #

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

(WAA) – Wales Airport # White Mountain (WMO) – White Mountain Airport

Former destinations

Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

(CIL) – Council Airport #

Diomede Diomede (; Ancient Greek: Διομήδη ''Diomēdē'') is the name of four women in Greek mythology: * Diomede, daughter of Xuthus. She married Deioneus, king of Phocis, and was the mother of Cephalus, Actor, Aenetus, Phylacus and Asterodia.( ...

(DIO) – Diomede Island Airport (ice runway, winter only) # Port Clarence (KPC) – Port Clarence Coast Guard Station

International

Bering Air offered charter service from Nome and

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

to Anadyr and Provideniya in the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

. This service is currently suspended.

Accidents and Incidents

*December 10, 1987 – N9979M, an air taxi cargo flight Cessna 207 Skywagon, crashed into mountains due to bad weather conditions, killing the pilot. *January 5, 1993 – N900YH, a

Mitsubishi MU-2 The Mitsubishi MU-2 is a Japanese high-wing, twin-engine turboprop aircraft with a Cabin pressurization, pressurized cabin manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It made its maiden flight in September 1963 and was produced until 1986. It ...

, crashed into the

Bering Sea The Bering Sea ( , ; rus, Бе́рингово мо́ре, r=Béringovo móre, p=ˈbʲerʲɪnɡəvə ˈmorʲe) is a marginal sea of the Northern Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasse ...

due to

fuel starvation In an internal combustion engine, fuel starvation is the failure of the fuel system to supply sufficient fuel to allow the engine to run properly, for example due to blockage, vapor lock, contamination by water, malfunction of the fuel pump or i ...

, injuring the pilot. *December 18, 1995 – N340K, a Beechcraft G18S, crashed into the ground due to an

in-flight fire In aviation, an in-flight fire is a type of aviation accident where an aircraft catches on fire in-flight. They are considered one of the most dangerous hazards in aviation, with a report from the British Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom) ...

shortly after takeoff from Nome Airport, injuring the pilot. *September 8, 1997 – N1123R, a Cessna 208 Caravan, collided with a

Cessna 402 The Cessna 401 and 402 are a series of 6 to 10 seat, light twin-piston engine aircraft.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplanes, Second Edition'', page 108. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. All seats are easily removable so ...

while preparing to depart from Buckland Airport. All 17 people on board both planes were evacuated uninjured. *March 2, 2003 – N205BA, a Cessna 208 Caravan, crashed into snow-covered sea ice due to a whiteout condition. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was repaired. *October 24, 2005 – N1263Y, a Cessna 208 Caravan, crashed into the ground due to

pilot error In aviation, pilot error generally refers to an action or decision made by a Aircraft pilot#Airline, pilot that is a substantial contributing factor leading to an Aviation accidents and incidents, aviation accident. It also includes a pilot ...

. The two pilots were injured and the aircraft was repaired. *September 18, 2009 – N349TA, a

CASA C-212 Aviocar The CASA C-212 Aviocar is a turboprop-powered STOL medium cargo aircraft designed and built by Spanish aircraft manufacturer Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). It is designed for use by both civil and military operators. The C-212 was ...

, overran runway 05 at Savoonga Airport. The two pilots were evacuated uninjured and the aircraft was repaired. *October 21, 2017 – N363JH, an air ambulance Beechcraft B200, made a belly landing at

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a major airport in the U.S. state of Alaska, located southwest of downtown Anchorage. The airport is named for Ted Stevens, who served as a senator of Alaska from 1968 to 2009. It is included in ...

. All four people on board were evacuated uninjured and the aircraft was repaired. *February 6, 2025 – Bering Air Flight 445, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, crashed onto ice around

Norton Sound The Norton Sound ( Inupiaq: ''Imaqpak'') is an inlet of the Bering Sea on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. It is about 240 km (150 mi) long and 200 km (125 mi) wide. The Yukon Riv ...

with 10 people on board. The pilot and the nine passengers perished.

References

External links

* {{Airlines of the United States 1979 establishments in Alaska Airlines established in 1979 Airlines based in Alaska Nome Census Area, Alaska Regional airlines of the United States American companies established in 1979