The complete history of Norway's most important pre-war airline: Det Norske Luftfartselskap, Fred. Olsen & Bergenske A/S (Norwegian Air Lines). The company was founded in October 1933 and two years later received a general licence for all domestic and international routes in Norway. The first Junkers Ju 52/3m (LN-DAE Havorn) arrived in June 1935 and began operating the Oslo-Moss-Arendal-Kristiansand-Stavanger-Haugesund-Bergen route. Later, the company also began operating the coastal route from Bergen to Tromsø and from Oslo to Gothenburg and Copenhagen. In the winter of 1937/38, a Ju 52/3m was chartered to AB Aerotransport and flew the Stockholm-Turku-Helsinki route. DNL succeeded in establishing itself as Norway's national airline. In 1939, the company began operating its routes with land planes, and in June 1940, in cooperation with Det Danske Luftfartselskab, AB Aerotransport and possibly also Aero OY (now Finnair), a mail route from Bergen via Iceland to New York was to be launched using Boeing 314 Clipper flying boats. During the Second World War, the aircraft were confiscated by the Luftwaffe and handed over to Deutsche Lufthansa and the Luftwaffe for use on the Trondheim-Tromsø-Kirkenes route. The book tells the story of the early years and ends with the dramatic conclusion in 1946, when DNL lost its licence to the partly state-owned Det Norske Luftfartselkap A/S, which later became part of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). Fred. Olsen's old DNL company was converted into Fred. Olsen's Flyselskap A/S in August 1946.
