page_title: History of Maersk Air
section_title: Jetliners
hierarchical_section_title: History of Maersk Air / Jetliners
context_page_description: Maersk Air was a Danish airline which operated between 1969 and 2005. Owned by the eponymous A. P. Møller–Mærsk Group, it operated a mix of scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo services. Headquartered at Dragør, its main operating bases were Copenhagen Airport, Billund Airport and Esbjerg Airport. The airline had offshore helicopter operations from 1975 to 1999 and had three airline subsidiaries: Maersk Air UK, Maersk Commuter and Star Air.
  The airline was founded on the foundations on the purchase of Falck Air on 21 February 1969. Fokker F27s were bought and domestic services from Copenhagen to Odense and Stauning. From 1971 to 1995 Maersk participated in Danair, which held a monopoly on all domestic services. Maersk Air was heavily involved in the inclusive tours market during the 1970s, operating the Boeing 720 and 737-200. From 1981 Maersk started international flights, first out of Billund and from the 1990s out of Copenhagen.
  Maersk Air gradually invested in new aircraft, including the Fokker 50, Boeing 737 Classic and later the 737-700. During the 1990s the number of international services increased, often codesharing with foreign airlines.
context_section_description: Given the nature of the mother company, Maersk Air looked at the possibilities to operate in the cargo segment. The F27s were bought with cargo doors, allowing them to be converted to freighters in half an hour. The airline aimed at buying a Boeing 747, but restrictions on freight caused these plans to be abandoned. However, they did purchase Oriental Air Transport Services, a cargo handling company based at Kastrup.
  Maersk instead chose to target the inclusive tours charter market. The first customer was Karavane Rejser, who chartered a flight to Corsica. To gain better access to the market, Maersk bought two travel agents in December 1971, Raffels Rejser and Bangs Rejser. Thereafter the airline bought five used Boeing 720Bs in 1973. This was followed up with purchasing the tour operator Unisol in 1974. The three agencies were merged to form a new agency under the brand Unisol and 120,000 annual trips. Unisol—Denmark's third largest inclusive tours travel agency—was placed under the industrial department in Maersk, while the airline reported directly to the executive administration. This caused a lack of coordination between the companies and Maersk never made money from the inclusive tours operations.
  Maersk Oil secured a monopoly in 1962 on exploration and extraction of any offshore petroleum in the Danish economic zone. By the 1970s they were operating oil platforms and needed helicopter transport to these. Maersk Air was contracted to perform this deed, for which it bought two Bell 212 helicopters. The airline stationed these at Esbjerg Airport and they commenced operations on 1 July 1975.
  Maersk Air took delivery of its first two Boeing 737-200 Advanced in 1976. In January 1975 a Fokker F-27 was written off in a non-fatal crash during landing. At this time Maersk Air was considering introducing jetliners on the Faroe routes, but the 1,100-meter (3,600 ft) runway was a limiting factor By devising a plan whereby the flight would have a slow approach speed and received heavy-duty breaks, it was possible to introduce the Boeing 737-200 Advanced on the route. The first such service took place on 10 February 1977.
  During the second half of the 1970s Maersk focused on wet leasing their larger 720-aircraft on the intercontinental market. Contracts included flying pilgrims from Morocco to Mecca and Scandinavians to North America. After having lost 100 million Danish krone (DKK) by 1979, Unison was sold to Tjæreborg in 1980. A participating cause was Unisol's inability to profile itself in a market dominated by two high-profile, yet diametrical, owners.
  Fourteen 737-200s had been delivered by 1981. Some were leased to other carries, including Guyana Airways, Malaysia Airlines and Tunisair. Others were used charter services, mostly to Danish inclusive tour operators. From 1983 three aircraft were entirely dedicated to this task. This was a highly competitive market, where Maersk had to compete with Conair, Sterling and Scanair, amongst others. The 737-200s proved too large for domestic services. The F27s had been sold and the airline therefore determined that it needed to procure new turoprops. A decision was made to buy the de Havilland Dash 7, but in the meantime the airline leased three HS 748s from 1980 to 1981. The first Dash 7 entered revenue service on 13 May 1981.
  During the late 1970s Maersk Air was failing to make a profit. The revenue of DKK 535 million in 1979 fell to DKK 454 million in 1981, hitting a record loss of DKK 29 million in 1981. The company encountered problems with liquidity in 1981, when it was not able to pay its employees wages. The parent company were not willing to lend the airline any more. There was an understanding in the group's executive management that if the airline failed to get through the crisis it would be allowed for file for bankruptcy.
  Bjørn Hansen was hired as CEO in 1981, carrying out a restructuring of the company. The number of bases for charter aircraft was reduced, cutting personnel costs. Eleven of the airline's twenty-four aircraft were sold. A key part of this plan was not 
caption: 737-300 at Faro Airport 1986
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