Editing Braathens ASA (section)

===Far East===
Braathens South American & Far East Airtransport A/S was founded on 26 March 1946 by Ludvig G. Braathen through his shipping company [[Ludvig G. Braathens Rederi]] and its holding company Braganza.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 22</ref> Braathens had made good money during World War II with the participation in the [[Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission]].<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 30–31</ref> His initial intentions were to fly crew and supplies to his and others ships throughout the world—primarily in the Far East.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 17</ref> Braathen traveled to the United States, where he bought several used 44-passenger [[Douglas C-54]] (DC-4) aircraft from the [[United States Air Force]]. Twenty pilots were recruited and sent to Fort Worth for certification. The first plane, LN-HAV ''Norse Explorer'', landed at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen on 26 December 1946.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 31–34</ref>

[[File:DC-3 Braathens SAFE 1952.jpg|thumb|left|Braathens Douglas DC-3 in 1952 wearing the airline's full name]]
The first service run from Oslo to [[Cairo]] via [[Copenhagen]] and [[Paris]] on 30 January 1947. Various charter services were provided, such as evacuating French and British personnel prior to the creation of Israel. The first Braathens SAFE flight was to the Far East started on 24 February from Oslo, with landings at [[Amsterdam]], [[Marseille]], [[Cairo]], [[Basra]], [[Karachi]], [[Calcutta]] and [[Bangkok]] before Hong Kong, where ''Norske Skyfarer'' landed on 8 March. Total flight time was 46 hours. The only other services to the Far East from Europe were operated by KLM and [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]].<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 34–35</ref> The regular services could be done with a round trip time of nine to ten days, including overnighting in Cairo, Karachi and Bangkok, and with technical revision of the plane in Hong Kong. In 1947, Braathens SAFE flew twenty-five trips to Hong Kong, five to [[New York City]] and one to [[Johannesburg]]. [[Douglas DC-3]] aircraft were introduced the same year for shorter charters. The following year, Braathens SAFE started the first trial flights to South America. By 1948 the airline had weekly trips to the Far East.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 35–43</ref>

The partially state-owned [[Norwegian Air Lines]] (DNL) was granted a monopoly on all domestic and international flights during the late 1940s.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 27</ref> They started the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) cooperation and stated that they would start a route to the Far East. Braathens SAFE's charters were by 1948 so regular that a concession would be needed. SAS demanded preferential treatment, but Braathens SAFE threatened to [[flag of convenience|flag out]] and the government gave them a concession that lasted until 1954, on condition they establish a technical base at [[Stavanger Airport, Sola]].<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 39–46</ref> The airline chose at the same time to move its main base from Gardermoen to Oslo Airport, Fornebu.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 47–49</ref>

[[File:Braathens S.A.F.E. Douglas DC-6B Volpati.jpg|thumb|[[Douglas DC-6]] in 1971]]
The SAS cooperation resulted in a full merger from 1951, after a merger proposal from Braathens SAFE had been rejected.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 49–54</ref> Braathens SAFE made proposals to expand its routes to New York and [[Tokyo]], but both were rejected by the government. The SAS merger bound the government to issue the Far East concession to SAS, and Braathens lost their international service rights then.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 54–62</ref> Braathens SAFE started cooperating with Icelandic [[Loftleidir]], who held the rights to fly to North America via Iceland. This involved Braathens leasing personnel and aircraft to Loftleidir and profit sharing on the route, in an agreement which lasted until 1961.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 75–83</ref>