Transwede Airways
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| Founded | 1 April 1985 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | January 1998 | ||||||
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| Fleet size | 7 (1997) | ||||||
| Destinations | 7 (1998) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Sigtuna Municipality, Sweden | ||||||
Transwede Airways AB, doing business as Transwede, was a Swedish charter and later also scheduled airline operating between 1985 and 1998. Based at , Transwede initially flew Sud Aviation Caravelles and from 1987 also McDonnell Douglas MD-80s. Most charter services were inclusive tour flights to the Mediterranean.
The first scheduled services were from to London in 1991. After the Swedish domestic market was deregulated the following year, Transwede variously started services from Stockholm to Visby, Umeå, Luleå, Sundsvall, Malmö and Halmstad. From 1993 the domestic services were conducted using Fokker 100 aircraft. The airline had about a 13-percent domestic market share in Sweden.
The airline was split up in 1996, following a period of losses. The charter division was sold to Fritidsresor, who renamed the airline Blue Scandinavia. Via a series of purchases this has since 2006 been called TUIfly Nordic. The scheduled division was bought by Norwegian carrier Braathens SAFE, who renamed the two airlines Braathens from 1998, integrating Transwede's operations into their own.
Transwede was founded on 1 April 1985 in Växjö by Thomas Johansen, who was also the company's first president. He had previously founded regional airline Swedair. Johansen intended to fill the gap created after the last Swedish inclusive tour charter operator, Transair Sweden, ceased operations in 1979. Initially the airline bought two 109-seat Sud Aviation Super Caravelles and was contracted by Royal Tours. The airline moved its main base to Stockholm Arlanda Airport the following year. It bought the tour operator Royal Tours in November 1986 in order to secure access to 200,000 annual charter passengers.
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