Viking Airlines
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| Founded | 2003 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | 5 May 2003 | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 18 October 2010 | ||||||
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| Subsidiaries | none | ||||||
| Fleet size | 3 | ||||||
| Destinations | 30 (at time of closure) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Spånga, , Sweden | ||||||
| Website | www.vikingairlines.com | ||||||
Viking Airlines AB was a privately owned charter airline with a head office in , Sweden and based in Stockholm. Viking Airlines primarily operated charter flights for European tour operators. The airline was established in 2003. Viking Airlines had its head office in Spånga, , Sweden.
Viking Airlines ceased operations on 18 October 2010 and was granted protection from creditors and placed in the hands of an administrator on 2 December 2010. The company was formally declared bankrupt in February 2011.
Viking Airlines started operations on 5 May 2003, with two McDonnell Douglas MD-83 which were used for charter operations throughout Europe. In 2004 another MD-83 was added to the fleet and by 2006 it was operating four MD-83s. Three aircraft were sold in 2008 leaving a single McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft being operated in 2008, which was supplemented with aircraft from Sky Wings to meet seasonal demand.
In December 2008 Viking Airlines took delivery of one Boeing 737-800, which entered service from a new base at London Gatwick Airport, UK on 19 December 2008. Viking Airlines also took delivery of 5 more Boeing 737-800's and 3 Boeing 737-300's in April 2009. Some aircraft were leased from Sunwing Airlines. Viking also opened bases at Manchester and Bristol Airport where it launched new flights to holiday destinations in Greece, Bulgaria, Egypt, the Canary Islands, France and Italy. Another base was also opened in Glasgow later in the year, with new flights to the Mediterranean.
From December 2008 through to October 2010 Viking Airlines operated regular flights to Iraq, serving Erbil, Baghdad and Sulaymaniyah from London Gatwick Airport connecting in Sweden before continuing on to their destination in Iraq. Gatwick based Cabin Crew would operate these flights. The services into Iraq were operated via Sweden in conjunction with sanctions at the time preventing aircraft from the United Kingdom flying into the war torn country, for a short time during that period flights were stopped due to a report of a Swedish aircraft being shot at during take off from Sulaymaniyah International Airport, however restrictions were lifted and flights resumed, life insurance policies were granted to the Cabin Crew and Flight Crew operating these flights due to the high risk zone in which the aircraft were flying into, they were also only able to operate services into the country during the night and had to ensure that all aircraft lights were switched off inside and out to make the aircraft less visible during approach.
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