Conair of Scandinavia A/S was a Danish

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...

based at

Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup (, ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, as well as the wider Øresund Region, including Zealand and the southern Sweden, Swedish province of Scania. In 2023 it was the largest ai ...

. It merged with

Scanair Scanair was a Sweden, Swedish charter airline of Danish origins that operated between 1961 and 1994. Its head office was in Bromma, Stockholm Municipality, Sweden. History Scanair was founded in Denmark in June 1961 and was partially owned by Sc ...

to establish

Premiair Premiair is an aviation services and aircraft management operator based in Indonesia, serving domestic and international markets. The company is headquartered at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta. In 2008, Premiair earned to Indonesia's to ...

in 1994.

History

Conair was founded by the Scandinavian charter pioneer

Simon Spies Simon Ove Christian Ogilvie Spies (1 September 1921 – 16 April 1984) was a Danish tycoon, best known for founding the charter airline Spies Rejser, and its airway company Conair of Scandinavia, and for his flamboyant lifestyle and womanisi ...

in 1965. The fleet was from scratch old

Douglas DC-7 The Douglas DC-7 is a retired American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after ...

s, which were taken over from Flying Enterprise. Around 1970, Conair got in to the "jet age", and bought second-hand

Boeing 720B The Boeing 720 is a retired American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959. Its type certificate ...

s from

Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...

instead. In autumn of 1987, two Conair Boeing 720s had their nose gear cracked during otherwise normal landings in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, Austria and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy. The fleet was already set to be renewed to second-hand

Airbus A300B4 The Airbus A300 is Airbus' first production aircraft and the world's first twin-engine, double-aisle (wide-body) airliner. It was developed by ''Airbus Industrie GIE'', now merged into Airbus SE, and manufactured from 1971 to 2007. In Septe ...

s. But after the two incidents the changing of the fleet became a very urgent issue. After the death of Simon Spies, his rather new wife and former secretary

Janni Spies Janni Spies (née Brodersen, born 19 September 1962) is a Danish businesswoman, multimillionaire, and former owner of the Scandinavian travelling empire including the charter airline Conair of Scandinavia, companies she inherited from her first ...

got ahead of the whole Spies corporation (where the traveling agency ''Spies rejser'' was included) and she employed her brother, a former carpenter, as general manager. They soon ordered six new

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...

s at the same time as the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

occurred. In the aftermath of the war, a sudden drop in numbers of flight passenger worldwide was a factor (which among other things) led to the bankruptcy of

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

. Conair and the Spies traveling agency were saved (almost as a Danish national treasure due to the huge popularity for the former "charter-king", the deceased Simon Spies) by banks, and Janni Spies and her staff were replaced. On 1 January 1994, Conair merged with a Swedish charter airline

, forming a new carrier, Premiair. Today, the airline still operates under the new name

Sunclass Airlines Sunclass Airlines Aktieselskab, A/S is a Denmark, Danish Air charter, charter airline that operates charter services from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The company is affiliated with Ving Group, a Nordic tour operator. It was, together wit ...

, still having its base at Copenhagen Airport.

Operations

Conair primarily flew tourists from the Spies traveling agency, but also served several other travel agencies. The vast majority of flights had their destinations in the Mediterranean area but also at Canary Islands, Gambia, London, Rome and Paris. Beside their main base at Copenhagen, flights also departed from

Billund Airport Billund Airport () is an airport in Denmark. Located northeast of Billund, Denmark, Billund, it serves as one of the country's busiest Cargo airline, air cargo centres, as well as a charter airline destination. It is the List of the busiest a ...

and

Stockholm Arlanda Airport Stockholm Arlanda Airport is the main international airport serving Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. It is located in Sigtuna Municipality, north of Stockholm and nearly southeast of Uppsala. The airport is located within Stockholm County. ...

Fleet

Over the years, Conair of Scandinavian operated the following aircraft: */ one was written off, due to a hard landing, 1974. Another remained in their fleet for two years after the purchase of B720B's

History

Operations

Fleet

See also

References

See also