Maersk Air: Даниялық әуежол тарихы

Maersk Air A/S was a Danish airline which operated between 1969 and 2005. Owned by the A. P. Møller–Mærsk Group, it operated a mix of scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo services. Headquartered at Dragør, its main operating bases were Copenhagen Airport, Billund Airport and Esbjerg Airport. The airline had offshore helicopter operations from 1975 to 1999 and had three airline subsidiaries: Maersk Air UK, Maersk Commuter, and Star Air. The airline was founded on the foundations on the purchase of Falck Air on 21 February 1969. Fokker F27s were bought and domestic services from Copenhagen to Odense and Stauning. From 1971 to 1995 Maersk participated in Danair, which held a monopoly on all domestic services. Maersk Air was heavily involved in the inclusive tours market during the 1970s, operating the Boeing 720B and 737 200. From 1981 Maersk started international flights, first out of Billund and from the 1990s out of Copenhagen. Maersk Air gradually invested in new aircraft, including the Fokker 50, Boeing 737 Classic, and later the 737 700. During the 1990s the number of international services increased, often codesharing with foreign airlines. With the Danish airlines deregulated in 1995, Maersk first sought to compete with Scandinavian Airlines. They later created a cartel. After being exposed, the airline fell into a decline after 2001, posting large deficits from which it never recovered. The airline was bought by the FL Group and merged with Sterling Airlines in 2005.

The A. P. Moller Maersk Group's first investment in aviation was taken in 1937 when it bought a stake in Danish Air Lines, the flag carrier at the time. Its next step took place in 1967, when the group bought a Hawker Siddeley HS 125 3B as a corporate jet. At the time there were few options for Danish airlines. The charter market was dominated by Spies Rejser and Tjæreborgs Rejser, each with their own airlines—Conair and Sterling, respectively. Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) was the flag carrier and had the sole right to conduct international scheduled services, and freight charters could only be carried out if the entire load had a single shipper and recipient. The establishment of the airline was approved by the group in 1969. The airline aimed at ad hoc charter with aircraft in the 50 seat market, and perhaps securing the rights to fly regional scheduled flights to smaller domestic airports. Operations to Odense Airport commenced on 26 December. The new airline, Maersk Air I/S was officially incorporated on 1 January 1970. The same day it took over the assets in Falk Air along with its air operator's certificate, concessions and the operational responsibility for the HS 125. Norwegian American Finn Rassmussen Ryssdal was hired as the airline's first director. He held the position for two years until he was replaced by another Norwegian, Johan Paus, former CEO of Scanair. As part of the establishment, Maersk entered the travel agency industry. Originally named Maersk Air Rejsebureau, was later named Maersk Travel.

The distribution of domestic routes was a contentious political issue. SAS held a privilege to commence any route they wanted, but lacked regional airlines to serve the smaller airports. Danish authorities, therefore, asked the three scheduled carriers, SAS, Maersk, and Cimber, to negotiate to see if they could reach an agreement. An agreement was reached in November 1971, whereby the company Danair was established. Thisted Airport opened in 1971 and Maersk was allocated as the operator. The Thisted and Stauning services were transferred to Cimber Air in 1976, although Maersk continued to operate some services. Maersk also aimed at serving the inclusive tours charter market. To gain better access to the market, Maersk bought two travel agents in December 1971, Raffels Rejser and Bangs Rejser. To better target the charter market, Maersk Air bought five used Boeing 720Bs in 1973. This was followed up with purchasing Unisol in 1974 and the three were merged to form a new agency under the brand Unisol and 120,000 annual trips. After having lost 100 million Danish krone (DKK) by 1979, Unison was sold to Tjæreborg in 1980. A participating cause was Unisol's inability to profile itself in a market dominated by two high profile, yet diametrical, owners. Maersk Air took delivery of its first two Boeing 737 200 Advanced in 1976. By 1981 the airline had taken delivery of fourteen aircraft. Some were leased to other carriers, including Guyana Airways, Malaysia Airlines and Tunisair. During the second half of the 1970s, Maersk focused on wet leasing their aircraft on the intercontinental market. Contracts included flying pilgrims from Morocco to Mecca and Scandinavians to North America. The 737 200s proved too large for domestic services. The F27s had been sold and the airline, therefore, determined that it needed to procure new turboprops. A decision was made to buy the de Havilland Dash 7, but in the meantime, the airline leased three HS 748s from 1980 to 1981. The first Dash 7 entered revenue service on 13 May 1981. Maersk Air experienced falling profits at during the late 1970s. The revenue of DKK 535 million in 1979 fell to DKK 454 million in 1981, hitting a record loss of DKK 29 million in 1981. The company started hitting problems with liquidity and in 1981 was not able to pay its employees wages. Bjarne Hansen was hired as CEO that year. The number of bases for charter aircraft was reduced, cutting personnel costs. The two Beechcrafts were sold, as were nine other of the airline's twenty four aircraft. A key part of this plan was not allowing the aircraft to remain idle during the day, thus maximizing revenue. The number of employees were reduced from 720 to 480. By 1985 the revenue had risen to DKK 898 million in 1985, allowing the airline to make a profit of DKK 112 million in 1985. Danair was reorganized from 27 September 1982. SAS's routes to Aalborg, Aarhus, and Rønne were taken into the Danair pool. Maersk on its side increased the number of departures on its services. The goal was to improve profitability. And although the scheme did rise passenger numbers, it failed to improve Maersk Air's financial performance in the domestic market. Stauning was dropped from Maersk and Danair's scheduled from 1 January 1983. From 1988 Maersk Air saw competition on its scheduled service to the Faroes, through the establishment of Atlantic Airways.

Maersk decided to look for possibilities to fly international routes. The first non SAS international concession was in 1981 granted to Air Business from Esbjerg via Thistedt to Stavanger Airport, Sola in Norway, using an Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante. Maersk Air bought the company in 1984 and bought two Short 360s. Soon the change to the concession was granted allowing the flight to operate from Aalborg instead of Thistedt, allowing for a greater catchment of passengers. The airline was kept as a regional subsidiary and took the name Maersk Commuter in 1988. It was dissolved in 1990. Changes in European Community rules in 1984 allowed any carrier to operate intra European routes, granted that they connected two regional airports. Maersk laid its eyes on Billund Airport, which was centrally located in Jutland and was classified as a regional airport. It was already a popular base for charter flights. London was a favored destination, but all the four primary airports were all categorized as primary airports. To exploit the new regulations, Maersk identified London Southend Airport, which was classified as a secondary airport. Maersk inaugurated the route on 29 November 1984 with two round trips,

Maersk considered both Århus and Billund as the base for their Jutland operations, and settled for Billund. The next international route to inaugurate was to Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany in 1988, in cooperation with Lufthansa. It was flown with the Fokker 50, which had just entered into service with the airline. During the late 1980s Maersk Air started an expansion of its travel agencies, both domestically and abroad. From 1993 it acquired a fleet of Boeing 727 100s and started hauling for United Parcel Service. Maersk Air also decided to enter the British market. It bought part of the Plimsoll Line, which again bought Birmingham Executive Airways (BEA) and Brymon Airways. After a merger into Brymon European Airways and subsequent demerger, Maersk Air UK was founded on the foundations of BEA. It operated a series of international and domestic services out of Birmingham Airport, initially with a fleet of three Jetstream 31 and three BAC One Elevens. Maersk signed a franchise agreement in which Maersk Air UK would fly with British Airways livery and flight codes, but at their own expense and their own aircraft and crew. The 1 11s were replaced with Boeing 737 500s in 1996. Bombardier CRJ200s were introduced two years later. Maersk also secured a 49 percent stake in Estonian Air, after having beaten SAS in a privatization tender. Two of Maersk Air's Fokker 50s were leased to Estonian Air, who also took delivery of two 737 500s, replacing the older Soviet fleet. and a year later it started flights from Copenhagen to Kristiansand. To meet the upcoming deregulation, Maersk carried out a major fleet rearrangement in 1993. The airline sold its Fokker 50s and leased them back. Meanwhile, it procured six Boeing 737 500s, which were delivered in 1996. With the demise of Danair, Maersk Air focused on improving its international connections. Its primary strategy was to establish routes from Billund to European destinations with codeshare agreements with major European airlines. Gradually the services were upgraded from Fokker 50 to 737 500s. Danair was dissolved on 1 October 1995, when the domestic airline industry in Denmark was deregulated. Maersk's success in Jutland was noticed by SAS, who in October 1996 opened its first service out of Billund, to Frankfurt. This was the first route in which the two airlines competed for head to head. In response, Maersk Air commenced services out of SAS' stronghold at Copenhagen Airport to Milan, Geneva and Stockholm the following year. Additional routes out of Billund were added in 1997. with Maersk Air being the European launch customer. With its eight daily round trips, Maersk Air only captured ten percent of the market on the Copenhagen–Stockholm route, losing money on it. Maersk, therefore, started negotiations with British Airways and KLM to see if they could become part of an airline alliance. They were in close negotiations with what would become Oneworld, but pulled out in the last minute. With the 14 June 1998 opening of the Great Belt Fixed Link, car, coach and rail transport became faster between Jutland and Funen on the one hand, and Zealand on the other, cutting travel time by an hour. The same year the government introduced a domestic air tax of DKK 150 on all domestic flights, which further contributed to the fall in domestic ridership. Maersk Air anticipated a significant drop and reduced services from a 737 500 to a Fokker 50. Yet passenger numbers dropped to a third and the service was terminated on 13 June 1998. Ole Dietz took over as managing director on 1 March 1999. After the Oneworld negotiations failed, Maersk Air turned to SAS in an attempt to initiate a cooperation. Negotiations commenced in early 1997, and the deal was announced on 8 October 1998, and took effect 28 March 1999. Maersk would adopt EuroBonus and codeshare all domestic flights, flights out of Copenhagen and select Billund services. In addition to the publicly stated clauses, the agreement also contained a series of illegal collusions. Maersk and SAS split up the market between them, so they no longer would fly on competing routes. This involved that Maersk Air would withdraw from its Copenhagen services to Stockholm and Geneva. Maersk Air also agreed to—gradually so to not awake suspicion—withdraw from its various codeshare agreements with other airlines than SAS. The case was followed up by the EU Commission and the Danish authorities, who carried out a dawn raid on 15 June 2000. Maersk Air was sentenced to a fine of €17.5 million, while SAS was fined €43.75 million. As a consequence, Dietz resigned as CEO and Hansen, who had been appointed chairman, also withdrew. Flemming Ipsen was hired as a new CEO, while Troels Dilling was hired as chairman.

Maersk was struck by a series of labor disputes in 1998 and 1999. At the turn of the century Maersk Air fell into financial distress. The airline was struck hard by the 2001 airline recession, making a loss that year of DKK 341 million. Ridership increased in 2002, largely through the increased sale of discounted tickets. Maersk Air therefore turned to divest its non core activities. Estonian Air was sold to SAS in 2003. In the years following the cartel case, almost the entire executive management of the airline was replaced. A large portion of the new management was without experience from the aviation industry. On 1 November 2003 Ipsen was replaced as CEO by Finn Øelund, who came from the same position in Air Greenland. He devised a new strategy, in which the airline would better utilize its fleet by placing flights closer to each other and flying throughout the day. He also proposed competing head on with SAS, as he believed that Maersk Air with the new strategy could operate with lower costs than the consortium. Aircraft received a new white and dark blue livery, replacing the old light blue Maersk colors. The airline adopted the slogan "fly as you like" and focused its route production on typical holiday destinations and cheap fares. Since 2002 Maersk had seen competition in the scheduled market from Sterling, which had reorganized itself as a low cost carrier targeting the Mediterranean leisure market. In 2005 Fred. Olsen & Co. sold the airline to FL Group. The Maersk Group announced on 30 June 2005 that it would sell Maersk Air to Sterling. The sales price of Maersk Air was never made public.

Maersk Air I/S was until 1996 organized as a partnership (interessentskab), which was again owned by two subsidiaries within the Maersk Group. This allowed the company to report less detailed accounts, and hindered competitors from gaining as good a picture of the company's economic situation. Maersk Air I/S was reorganized in 1996. The partnership model was abandoned and instead, the airline became a limited company (aktieselskab) directly under the mother company. Star Air on its side became a subsidiary of Maersk Air. Throughout its existence, Maersk Air operated a corporate jet for the Maersk Group. Five different aircraft were used in series, first consisting of two Hawker Siddeley HS 125, These were all named Jette Maersk and served two purposes. First, they were used for flying executives. Secondly, the aircraft were dispatched to send mechanics and spare parts of serve ships of Maersk Line and other shipping companies within the group. Because this could minimize downtime due to mechanical failure, the latter proved a highly profitable endeavor.

Initially, Maersk and the other major Danish airlines had a common ground handling company, Copenhagen Air Services, at the eponymous airport. In 1994 Maersk Air bought out the other owners of Copenhagen Air Services. Within three years it was making a DKK 46 million profit from a DKK 401 million revenue. In 1998 Maersk merged the company with the ground handling company owned by the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration, creating Novia. It operated ground handling services at the airports in Copenhagen, Stockholm Arlanda and Gothenburg Landvetter. With the deregulation of the handling market from 1999, entranced with lower costs took over a substantial portion of the market. Novia failed to retain its profits and lost DKK 80 million from 1999 to 2001. The CAA sold to Aviapartner in 2001, but the cooperation was poor. Maersk Air eventually let the company be file for bankruptcy.