Lufttransport

Lufttransport is a Norwegian helicopter and fixed-wing airline that operates primarily air ambulance helicopter and plane for the Norwegian and Swedish governments. In addition the airline offers services including surveillance for the Norwegian Coast Guard, transport of ship pilots and scheduled air transport in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard.

The airline operates 10 helicopters and 14 fixed-wing aircraft and has headquarters in Tromsø. In 2005 the company had a revenue of 300 million NOK.

History
Lufttransport was started in 1971 and merged with Mørefly in 1995.

The company started operations on Svalbard in 1978, transporting crew from the new international airport at Longyearbyen to the mines at Svea and Ny-Ålesund. From 1994 the airline has operated Dornier Do-228 aircraft at Svalbard. Since 2002 the company has co-operated with the shipping pilot service in Bergen, flying pilots out to vessels at sea. In 2005 it also started flying scheduled routes from Bodø to Værøy.

In 2000 its owner CHC Helikopter Service, part of CHC Helicopter, sold Lufttransport to Norwegian Air Shuttle. In 2005 Norwegian sold Lufttransport and the Swedish Heliflyg to Norsk Helikopter who owns the airline today.

Ambulance
In Norway Lufttransport has Beech King Air B200 ambulance planes stationed at
 * 1 Kirkenes Airport
 * 2 Alta Airport
 * 1 Bodø Airport
 * 1 Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy
 * 2 Svalbard Airport, Longyear
 * 1 Tromsø Airport, Langnes
 * 1 Ålesund Airport, Vigra

It also has helicopter bases at
 * Møre og Romsdal Regional Hospital
 * Tromsø Regional Hospital
 * Arendal Hospital
 * Brønnøysund Hospital

In Sweden the airline operates helicopters from
 * Lycksele
 * Östersund
 * Stockholm
 * Umeå [fixed-wing]
 * Uppsala

Svalbard
The airline also has two Dornier Do-228 aircraft stationed at Svalbard Airport, Longyear that fly regular charter flights to Ny-Ålesund Airport, Hamnerabben and Svea Airport for the two mining companies Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani and Kings Bay. One of the Dornier aircraft also carries out surveillance for the Norwegian Coast Guard, primarily checking fishing boats in the Barents Sea. Lufttransport flies about 400 hours per year for the Coast Guard.

Ship pilots
In addition, two Agusta helicopters are used to transport ship pilots, based at Bergen Airport, Flesland. Ships exceeding 30 000 gross tonnes with petroleum products are required to have a pilot onboard while navigating into the petroleum refineries of Kårstø, Mongstad and Sture. In addition the company has a contract to fly crew to Teekay's ships in the North Sea

Værøy
Lufttransport flies the public service obligation between Bodø Airport and Værøy Heliport with two daily round trips (one trip on Saturdays and Sundays) with an Agusta Bell AB139.

Fleet
As of August 2006 the Lufttransport fleet includes :


 * 2 Dornier 228-200
 * 12 Beech King Air B200
 * 3 Agusta A109E Power
 * 1 Eurocopter EC135T2
 * 1 Eurocopter SA365N Dauphin
 * 4 Eurocopter SA365N2 Dauphin
 * 3 Eurocopter SA365N3 Dauphin
 * 1 Agusta/Bell AW139