Oslo-based Airwing is awaiting delivery of a second Beech 100 in November, following full interior and exterior refurbishment.

The company’s other Beech 100, which joined the fleet in November 2004, was recently placed on the Norwegian register, having previously been operated on the Swedish register.

“This is because we are based in Norway, at Gardermoen Airport, and by law we had to put the aircraft on the Norwegian register after a few months,” explained accountable manager Jarle Granheim.

High utilisation of the aircraft prompted the company to purchase a second King Air. “We are performing business charter flights, logging approximately 500 hours per year. If we have the same utilisation as we had in August and September, we will top 600 hours per year.

“These are, of course, typically busy months. When it comes to the Christmas period and around July; they are slower months,” he added.

Airwing flies regularly to eastern Europe and Russia, but most of its flights are to European hubs

like Brussels and Amsterdam-Schiphol airports. Domestic flights only account for about 25 per cent of the King Air’s missions.

“We are also flying a lot to the UK – to Durham-Tees Valley in England, as well as Wick and Inverness in Scotland – as a lot of companies take clients over there for hunting,” said Granheim.

Accounting for the rise in demand for flights to Russia, he commented: “The main reason is due to the lack of communication going that way. We fly a lot of board members and company directors who want to travel from Moscow to Norway, but there are poor services to get there.

“These people sleep enough in hotels anyway, so they appreciate the opportunity to fly out and return on the same day. It’s the same reason for every business charter flight: They are easy, flexible and remove the hassle from flying.”

The new King Air, which has been purchased from an American firm, is also expected to log about 500

hours per year. Granheim says that the choice of aircraft was simple: “It was either a BE100 or BE200. If you account for range and performance, you will find that the BE100 has about 45 to 60 minutes’ more endurance.

“That’s the main reason we chose it, especially because when we fly to Moscow we need that extra performance, so that we don’t need to stop to refuel. It’s a really good aircraft and is very reliable.

“The King Air 200 wasn’t an option therefore,” he added. “If we acquire a third aircraft, it will probably be a King Air 350 because we also have demand for flights carrying more than nine passengers. We’ve had requests for such flights and we’ll look into it in 2006.”