History
In 1993, Juhani Pakari and his father started Finncomm Airlines as an Air Taxi business flying light aircraft to remote airstrips which other carriers did not serve. Seeking to acquire an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) to begin scheduled flights, Finncomm partnered with Swedish carrier Golden Air in 1999 until Finncomm could receive their own AOC. The original Golden Air fleet consisted of seven Saab 340s and one Saab 2000.
In September 2003, Finncomm received their own AOC and operations began with one Embraer ERJ-145s leased from Swiss International Airlines. Inaugural services between Helsinki and Stuttgart were followed by flights to Düsseldorf and Oslo with the arrival of a second ERJ-145 from Swiss International Airlines in April 2005.
At the 2005 Paris Air Show, Finncomm announced a $250 million contract for eight ATR-42-500 aircraft with options for a further eight. With the arrival of the ATR-42 in late November 2005, the airline could begin to retire the Saab fleet inherited from Golden Air.
In 2006, at the Farnborough Air Show, Finncomm signed a contract which converted four of their ATR-42 orders to the larger ATR-72-500. This was further supplemented by the purchase of an additional three ATR-72 aircraft at a list price of $54 million.
In January 2008 the carrier announced another order for a further five ATR-72-500 aircraft with deliveries between 2009 and 2011. Once all the orders have been fulfilled by ATR, Finncomm will become the largest operator of the ATR-500 series in Europe.
On 9 September 2010, Finnair Group announced that they have signed a preliminary agreement to acquire all the aircraft from Finnish Commuter Airlines Oy and 20% of Finncomm Airlines Oy for the total sum of €48 million. The schedule for completion of the purchase is yet unknown. Finncomm will however remain their own identity and continue operations normally in the Finnair Group.
On 1 July 2011, Finnair and Flybe announced they will jointly buy Finncomm for €25 million. The company will be renamed Flybe Nordic. 60% of shares will be owned by Flybe while Finnair will own 40%.
Read more about this topic: Finncomm Airlines
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