Offshore Helicopters A/S was an offshore and scheduled

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 ...

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 ...

based at

Bergen Airport, Flesland Bergen Airport (; ), alternatively Bergen Flesland Airport or simply Flesland Airport, is an international airport located at Flesland in the city and municipality of Bergen, Vestland, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport i ...

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Established in 1974, the company lasted until 1980 when it merged with its main competitor, Helikopter Service. Offshore Helicopters flew mostly to Statfjord, and had at its peak eight helicopters. It flew a scheduled service from Bodø to

Værøy Værøy may refer to: Places * Værøy Municipality, a municipality in the Lofoten district of Nordland county, Norway * Værøya, an island within Værøy Municipality in the Lofoten district of Nordland county, Norway * Værøy Lighthouse, a coas ...

between 1976 and 1979.

History

Through the late 1960s and early 1970s there was a boom in offshore oil exploration and later production. This led to a steady increase in offshore helicopter traffic, although initially only Helikopter Service was able to capture it. Three significant airlines therefore went together to form a challenger. Offshore Helicopters was incorporated by Fred. Olsen Airtransport, Helitourist and

Mørefly Mørefly A/S was an airline and general aviation company which operated between 1955 and 1995. Based in Ålesund Municipality and later Giske Municipality, Norway, it was involved in a wide range of operations, the most dominant being air ambulan ...

on 31 October 1974. Its head office was located at Bergen Airport, Flesland, with a second base at

Stavanger Airport, Sola Stavanger Airport (; ), commonly known simply as Sola, is an international airport located in Rogaland county, Norway. The airport is located southwest of the centre of the city of Stavanger inside the neighboring municipality of Sola an ...

. The airline received an offshore operating concession the same year.Olsen-Hagen: 85 The airline initially bought two fifteen-passenger

Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma The Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma is a four-bladed, twin-engined medium transport/utility helicopter designed and originally produced by the French aerospace manufacturer Sud Aviation. The Puma was developed as a new design during the mid-1960s in r ...

. There was a desire both among politicians and oil companies that there be created a challenger to Helikopter Service, but it proved difficult for Offshore Helicopters to secure significant contracts. Their main operations was a joint contract with Helikopter Service to fly to Statfjord. This involved an extensive cooperation with the larger company, forcing Offshore Helicopters to sell their Pumas and instead buy two

Sikorsky S-61 The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King, SH-3 Sea King military helicopter. They were developed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. The commercial version of the Sea King ...

N and two

Bell 212 The Bell 212 (also known as the ''Bell Two-Twelve'') is a two-blade, twin-engine, medium helicopter that first flew in 1968. Originally manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, production was moved to Mirabel, Queb ...

in order to unify the fleets. All maintenance of the Sikorskys were done by Helikopter Service, although Offshore Helicopters maintained their Bells. By 1978 the fleet had increased to four aircraft of each class.Olsen-Hagen: 86 The airline operated a scheduled passenger service between 1976 and 1979, between

Bodø Airport Bodø Airport is a civil airport in the town of Bodø in Bodø Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Located just south of the city centre, on the westernmost tip of the Bodø peninsula, it shares facilities with the military air force base ...

and the island of

Værøya Værøya or Værøy is an island in Værøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The island makes up about 89% of the land area of the whole municipality and it is home to 100% of the municipal residents. Name The Old Norse form of the isla ...

. The route was subsidized by the government and awarded to

Widerøe Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 48 aircraft includes 45 De Havilland Dash 8 turboprops as well as 3 Embraer 1 ...

, who also operated the rest of the subsidized regional network. Widerøe bought a

Sikorsky S-58 The Sikorsky H-34 (company designation S-58) is an American Reciprocating engine, piston-engined military utility helicopter originally designed by Sikorsky Aircraft, Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States ...

T, but subcontracted the operations to Offshore Helicopter. The company took over an old hangar at Bodø and had four people stationed there. Mørefly and Helitourist eventually sold their shares to Fred. Olsen. In 1980 they have up operating the airline, and agreed to a merger with Helikopter Service. Fred. Olsen was paid in shares in the merged Helikopter Service, receiving an ownership share of fifteen percent.

References

Bibliography

* {{Helicopter airlines Defunct airlines of Norway Defunct helicopter airlines Airlines established in 1974 Airlines disestablished in 1980 1980 disestablishments in Norway Companies based in Bergen Norwegian companies established in 1974