Editing Braathens ASA (section)

===Domestic operations with Herons and Fellowships===

Charter flights to Europe using [[Douglas DC-6]] aircraft started in 1950. The airline applied for and was granted permission to fly from Oslo via [[Tønsberg Airport, Jarlsberg]] to Stavanger. Braathens acquired [[de Havilland Heron]] aircraft to operate the route.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 64–65</ref> Permission to fly from Oslo to [[Trondheim Airport, Lade]] was granted in 1953, a route also served by SAS. Termination of Far East routes led to a 90% drop in revenue and the airline made several unsuccessful applications for new routes.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 66–70</ref> They were successful in obtaining permission include stopovers on Oslo–Stavanger services at [[Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik]] and [[Farsund Airport, Lista]]. From 1956 stopovers took place at [[Hamar Airport, Stafsberg]] and [[Notodden Airport, Tuven]], but these only lasted until 1959. By then it had added [[Røros Airport]] to its destinations.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 104–108</ref> Following the bankruptcy of [[West Norway Airlines]] in 1957 and the opening of [[Ålesund Airport, Vigra]] the following year, concessions were reshuffled, and Braathens was granted a monopoly on services to Ålesund and between Trondheim and Bergen, while it and SAS would compete on services between Oslo and Stavanger, Kristiansand and Trondheim.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 112</ref>

[[File:Braathens SAFE F27 LN-SUE.jpg|thumb|left|[[Fokker F-27 Friendship]] in 1974]]
Braathens SAFE was the second airline to take delivery of the [[Fokker F-27 Friendship]].  The Friendships, which replaced the DC-3 and Herons were [[turboprop]]s with [[cabin pressurization|pressurized cabins]]. The first aircraft was delivered in 1958 and the model was put into service on the main routes. Service to Hamar, Farsund and Tønsberg stopped because their runways were too short.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 118–120</ref> Braathens started charter flights to [[Longyearbyen]] in 1959, landing on an improvised snow runway.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 155–158</ref> Scheduled service between Oslo via [[Sandefjord Airport, Torp]] to [[Aalborg Airport]] in Denmark was introduced in 1960.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 121</ref> In 1967 Braathens SAFE was granted permission to continue their service between Bergen, Ålesund and Trondheim northwards to [[Bodø Airport]] and [[Tromsø Airport]].<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 165–172</ref>

[[Saga Tours]] started selling Mediterranean charter trips in 1959 and Braathens SAFE operated the flights. At first the DC-4 was used, but from 1961 the airline used the 96-seat [[Douglas DC-6]], reaching seven aircraft in 1967. Braathens bought strategic stakes in both Saga Tours and Sweden's [[Atlas Resor]] to secure their share of the charter market.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 131–134</ref> Multilateral agreements allowed any Scandinavian airline to fly charter services from any of the three Scandinavian countries to Spain; while this allowed Braathens SAFE to enter the Swedish and Danish charter market, it increased competition on their home turf.<ref>Tjomsland and Wilsberg, 1995: 134–138</ref>