Coast Air

Coast Air

Coast Air AS was a regional airline based at Haugesund Airport, Karmøy in Norway. It was Norway's fourth largest airline and operated domestic services within Norway, in addition to international services. Routes were concentrated along the West Coast, as well as some public service obligation contracts in Southern Norway. The company had a fleet of de Havilland Canada Twin Otter aircraft, later replaced with Jetstream 31s and ATR 42s.

The company was founded on the remains of Coast Aero Center, which operated from 1975 to 1988. Coast Air started flying de Havilland Canada Twin Otter aircraft from Haugesund to Oslo Airport, Fornebu and Bergen Airport, Flesland. In 1990, service from Fagernes Airport, Leirin was also introduced, a route that lasted until 1997. Following the deregulation of aviation in Norway in 1994, Coast Air started several regional routes, replacing its fleet with Jetstream 31 aircraft. From 2000, Coast Air also served Florø Airport on public service obligation with the Ministry of Transport, using ATR 42 aircraft. In 2003, it lost the Florø contract, but regained the Fagernes route. From 1999, Coast Air started competing direct with the larger airlines on main routes, and introduced new regional and international services. From then on, the company continuously lost money. From 2004, it wet-leased aircraft to Vildanden, but the contract was canceled the following year. Following attempts to start new international route, Coast Air filed for bankruptcy in 2008.