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| Founded | 16 February 1995 (1995-02-16) | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 1 September 2008 (2008-09-01) | ||||||
| Operating bases | |||||||
| Fleet size | 4 (2008) | ||||||
| Destinations | 2 (2008) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Evenes | ||||||
| Key people | Karl Johan Karlsen (owner, chair) Torlaug Karlsen (owner, CEO) | ||||||
| Website | http://www.katoair.no | ||||||
Kato Airline AS,trading asKato Air, was anairline which operated inNorthern Norway between 1995 and 2008. Although also operating some smaller aircraft, the main portion of the airline's fleet were twoDornier 228. The airline was based at the grounds ofHarstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes inEvenes Municipality.
Commercial operations began in 1996. An early contract was to deliver newspapers out ofHarstad. During 1999 the airline took delivery of two Dornier 228s and started a scheduled service fromHarstad/Narvik toBodø Airport andTromsø Airport. The route was not viable and closed later that year. In the process Kato Air took over the fixed-wing operations ofHelitrans and set up a base atTrondheim Airport, Værnes. Instead the airline focused on charter to oil companies, particularly flying charters from Trondheim toBrønnøysund.
The airline won thepublic service obligations from Bodø toRøst Airport and toNarvik Airport, Framnes in 2003. Later the year they also won a major contract withNorway Post. The airline suffered two serious incidents. A Dornier 228 crashed and was written off after a lightning strike on 4 December 2003. A scheduled service washijacked on 29 September 2004. The Brønnøysund, Framnes and newspaper routes were all lost in 2006, after which the company fell into financial difficulties. The maintenance certificate was withdrawn on 28 August 2008 and the airline ceased operations on 1 September.
Kato Air was incorporated on 16 February 1995. However, not until 21 February 1996 did it receive anair operator's certificate for general aviation. In the intermediate period the airline cooperated with another airline. The airline established a base at Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes, as the first airline to be based at the airport.[1] The company was founded and owned by Karl Johan Karlsen, acting as chairman, and his wife Torlaug Karlsen, the managing director.[2] "Kato" is derived from the first two letters from their respective first names.[3] The fleet started off with aPiper PA-31 Chieftain[4] and aCessna 172 in 1995.[5] The following year the airline bought aMaule M-5[6] and aCessna 208 was procured in 1997.[7]
By 1997, 15 million kr had been invested in the airline. Its first permanent contract was withVerdens Gang to distribute printed newspaper from the press in Harstad to Bodø and Troms].[8] Later the arrangement was extended to also include the distribution ofDagbladet. The company had a revenue of 6.3 millionNorwegian krone in 1997, making a profit of one million. The company sourced seventy percent of its revenue from the newspaper contracts. The mainad hoc charter contractors were theNorwegian Geological Survey and theNorwegian Directorate for Nature Management.[2] APiper PA-34 Seneca was added to the fleet in 1998.[7]
Kato Air announced plans in October 1998 to establish a scheduled route from Harstad/Narvik to Bodø and Tromsø. The background was thatWiderøe was no longer flying this route. Kato Air cooperated with theStjørdal-based airlineHelitrans, who had a surplus ofDornier 228.[9] One of these was taken over by Kato Air, who christened itBjørnfjell; the other was leased. They had 16 and 19 seats, respectively. The route commenced on 7 December 1998. Each leg had a morning and afternoon round trip on weekdays, as well as an evening flight on Sundays. Kato Air bought ground services fromScandinavian Airlines at Harstad/Narvik and from Widerøe in Bodø and Tromsø.[10] The arrangement ultimately resulted in Kato Air taking over the entire fixed-wing division of Helitrans, who remained with only helicopter operations.[11] Patronage on the route was too low to keep the route running, and it was terminated in November 1999. A contributing factor was an importedfast ferry service to Tromsø.[12]
The Dorniers were subsequently mostly used for charters with oil companies, withStatoil being a dominant customer.[13] Of particular importance was a charter route with the oil company fromTrondheim Airport, Værnes toBrønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy.[14] For a period starting in February 2002 the airline also flew a charter route from Trondheim toKristiansund Airport, Kvernberget.[15]
Starting 1 April 2003 Kato Airline took over two public service obligation routes, which received subsidies from theMinistry of Transport and Communications. Both were out of Bodø, one toRøst Airport and the other toNarvik Airport, Framnes—the downtown airport serving Narvik.[13] The same year the airline won four-year contract withNorway Post to operate postal flights from Trondheim to Bodø, Harstad/Narvik and Tromsø.[3] Kato Airline was allowed to operate the route with a Dornier 228, a significantly smaller aircraft than the incumbentde Havilland Canada Dash 8 used by Widerøe. By December both routes had seen a drastic fall in patronage. Røst Municipal Council came with a statement criticizing the ministry for allowing such aircraft, stating that the lacked among other amenities accessibility,pressure cabin,weather radar, space for hand luggage and that the airline did not operate with discount tickets.[16] The company's revenue peaked at 61 million kroner in 2003.[17]
After failing to make a profit on the Narvik route, Kato Air announced in late 2004 that it would terminate operations on the route from 8 March 2005.[18] No companies bid to fly the route, and so the ministry entered negotiations with Kato Airline to continue operations. This resulted in the fee for the remaining thirteen months increasing from 8 million to 18.2 million kroner.[19] By 2006 the patronage at Narvik Airport, Framnes had halved in the three years the route was operated by Kato Airline.[20]
During late 2005 Kato Air lost three important contracts, both the newspaper flights, the Statoil flights and the Narvik contract.[14] However, they won a new three-year contract to operate the route to Røst, running from 1 April 2006 through 31 March 2009.[21] The loss of business ultimately led to a loss of 10 million kroner in 2007 and put the company under severe financial pressure. This led the company to increase itsad hoc business, which included winning the contract for the organization of the2007 Dakar Rally.[17] The airline made several bids to win more routes. They applied in 2006 for both PSO contracts inFinnmark, but failed to match the bid from Widerøe.[22]
Following an inspection, theCivil Aviation Authority of Norway withdrew Kato Air Service's aircraft maintenance certificate on 28 August 2008. They citied several severe breaches of regulation and routines. Subsequently, the board decided on 1 September toliquidate the company.[23]
The following is a list of scheduled destinations served by Kato Airline.
| Location | Airport | Start | End | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bodø | Bodø Airport | 1999* | 2008 | [10][12][13] |
| Harstad/Narvik | Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes | 1999 | 1999 | [10][12] |
| Narvik | Narvik Airport, Framnes | 2003 | 2008 | [13][14] |
| Røst | Røst Airport | 2003 | 2008 | [13] |
| Tromsø | Tromsø Airport | 1999 | 1999 | [10][12] |
