Fred Olsen Air Transport

  October 1946 to February 1997

  Norway

TYPE: Non-scheduled airline

IATA/ICAO CODES: FO / FOF

HEADQUARTERS: Oslo Fornebu

FORMER NAME: DNL (Det Norske Luftfartselskap Fred Olsen)

OTHER NAME: Fred Olsens Flyselskap

Fred Olsen & Co. is a maritime shipping company that was founded in 1848 by Petter Olsen. From 1933, Thomas Olsen, grandson of the latter, decided to diversify the family business in several fields, including aviation. He founded Norwegian Air Lines, the country's first national airline, which ceased operations during World War II.

After the war, Rudolf Olsen, the son of Thomas, founded another airline, Fred Olsen Air Transport, established on 16 October 1945. The company started operating in November using several surplus Douglas C-47s, and specialized in passenger & cargo charter operations. Fred Olsen also leased its aircraft to other airlines, including Viscounts to British European Airways. From 1955, Fred Olsen Aircraft Maintenance was established at Oslo Fornebu airport, as a spin-off offering maintenance to third parties. Commandos joined the fleet in 1957.

During the 1960's, Fred Olsen continued to expand using the same business model, addind other Viscounts, a Douglas DC6, Convairs and eventually Lockheed Electras to its fleet. A VIP branch was started in 1967 using a fleet of 4 Falcon 20s.

Declining profits forced the company to close down in February 1997.

October 1957 to June 1971

Fred Olsen operated a fleet of 3 Commandos from 1957. All of these were overhauled and converted to C-46R beforehand at Officine Aeronavali in Venice, Italy. They were then used to transport ship's crews & machinery around, bring fresh flowers from the south of France to Scandinavia, and conduct charter tourist flights. From 1959, two Commandos were leased out to SAS to carry out their freight flights. After the 1962 closure of Fred Olsen Aircraft Maintenance, the Commandos maintenance was subcontracted to SAS.

During the Biafran airlift of the Nigerian Civil War, which commenced in 1968, Fred Olsen was contracted by Joint Church Aid to operate aid flights out of Sao Tome to Uli, Biafra. Initially two Commandos were used, later replaced by the Douglas DC6 painted in Joint Church Aid livery. Fred Olsen built up a full operational base at Sao Tome airport.

All three Commandos were sold in 1971.

• Riddle C-46R Commando: LN-FOP, LN-FOR, LN-FOS