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Founded | 30 June 1971 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | 11 October 1989 | ||||||
Operating bases | Oslo Airport, Fornebu | ||||||
Fleet size | 9 (1989) | ||||||
Headquarters | Fornebu, Bærum, Norway |
Partnair A/S was a Norwegian charter airline which operated from 1971 to 1989. During the later 1980s it was Norway's fifth-largest airline by revenue, operating a fleet of three Convair CV-580 and six Beechcraft Super King Air. The airline was based at Oslo Airport, Fornebu, as well as operating a base at Stavanger Airport, Sola.
The airline was established as Paralift in 1968 to allow a group of friends to operate a Cessna 182 for parachuting. The company went commercial in 1971 and acquired four Cessna twin-props by 1975. The airline focused on business charters. During the late 1970s the fleet was replaced with Piper PA-31 Navajos. The Partnair name was adopted in the mid 1970s. The first of what eventually became eight Beechcraft King Air and the later Super models was bought in 1978. Partnair briefly operated two Cessna 550 Citation II corporate jets in 1983.
The airline merged with Nor-Fly Charter in 1984, acquiring two Convair 580s. A third was added in 1986. It built a new hangar and office complex in 1985. The only spell of scheduled traffic, out of Notodden Airport, Tuven, took place between 1985 and 1986. The company went into a period with severe financial difficulties and went bankrupt in 1987, but soon revived. The crash of Partnair Flight 394 on 8 September 1989 was the final blow for the company, which filed for bankruptcy on 11 October. Operations were restarted in what became Air Stord.