Alphaless
Well-known member
Taking a page from JJ's book with this one, I felt like writing up a quick note about one of my favorite carriers from the past. I have decided to post this thread in Real Life Aviation because there are very, very few models of this airline available and this is the only section where it feels appropriate to post.
Blue1 was a Finnish carrier that ceased operations in 2015. It was founded in 1988 as "Air Botnia", flying small Embraer turboprops between smaller destinations in Finland from Helsinki. They picked up Jetstream 31s, but ran into financial difficulties soon after and they phased them out rather quickly.
In 1998, Air Botnia was purchased by the SAS Group and rebranded. Saab 340 aircraft were added to the fleet and replaced the old Embraers. Jets were also introduced to the fleet for the first time with the Fokker 28, leftovers from SAS. The airline received a livery update, with their aircraft now sporting basic SAS colors with "Air Botnia" titles.
The Fokker 28s, like the Jetstream 31s, were also phased out relatively quickly. They were replaced by new Avro RJ jets (RJ85 and RJ100), which would constitute the bulk of the carrier's fleet for the next several years. The Saab 340s were also replaced with the Saab 2000. Around the same time, the carrier rebranded to Blue1, and a new livery was painted on the fleet, though some of the Avros and Saabs flew in Air Botnia colors for some time.
In 2006, the larger MD-90 joined the fleet. Like the Fokker 28 all of these were recycled SAS equipment and allowed Blue1 to expand further into the European market.
In 2010, Blue1 received the first of their 717s. They would operate a total of 9 examples, with 7 of the 9 featuring a unique title and paintjob. In my opinion these liveries are some of the finest to ever be painted on an aircraft (for the sake of the thread I will not post all the paintjobs, but strongly encourage anyone reading to check them out!). A pair of ATR turboprops supplemented their service to smaller markets and were operated by different carriers. Shortly after the 717 deliveries were completed, the remaining MD-90s and Avrojets in the fleet were retired.
In 2015, it was decided that Blue1 was going to sell their 717 fleet to Volotea and Delta. Replacement was planned but never materialized, and after a sale to Cityjet, Blue1 was dissolved.
What started as a small Finnish shuttle turned into a rather substantial carrier, flying to upwards of ~30 European destinations with a fleet of "oddballs". I find it quite unfortunate that this airline is poorly represented in diecast, and I am curious to hear your thoughts (if any) on this carrier.
Thank you for reading!
Blue1 was a Finnish carrier that ceased operations in 2015. It was founded in 1988 as "Air Botnia", flying small Embraer turboprops between smaller destinations in Finland from Helsinki. They picked up Jetstream 31s, but ran into financial difficulties soon after and they phased them out rather quickly.
In 1998, Air Botnia was purchased by the SAS Group and rebranded. Saab 340 aircraft were added to the fleet and replaced the old Embraers. Jets were also introduced to the fleet for the first time with the Fokker 28, leftovers from SAS. The airline received a livery update, with their aircraft now sporting basic SAS colors with "Air Botnia" titles.
The Fokker 28s, like the Jetstream 31s, were also phased out relatively quickly. They were replaced by new Avro RJ jets (RJ85 and RJ100), which would constitute the bulk of the carrier's fleet for the next several years. The Saab 340s were also replaced with the Saab 2000. Around the same time, the carrier rebranded to Blue1, and a new livery was painted on the fleet, though some of the Avros and Saabs flew in Air Botnia colors for some time.
In 2006, the larger MD-90 joined the fleet. Like the Fokker 28 all of these were recycled SAS equipment and allowed Blue1 to expand further into the European market.
In 2010, Blue1 received the first of their 717s. They would operate a total of 9 examples, with 7 of the 9 featuring a unique title and paintjob. In my opinion these liveries are some of the finest to ever be painted on an aircraft (for the sake of the thread I will not post all the paintjobs, but strongly encourage anyone reading to check them out!). A pair of ATR turboprops supplemented their service to smaller markets and were operated by different carriers. Shortly after the 717 deliveries were completed, the remaining MD-90s and Avrojets in the fleet were retired.
In 2015, it was decided that Blue1 was going to sell their 717 fleet to Volotea and Delta. Replacement was planned but never materialized, and after a sale to Cityjet, Blue1 was dissolved.
What started as a small Finnish shuttle turned into a rather substantial carrier, flying to upwards of ~30 European destinations with a fleet of "oddballs". I find it quite unfortunate that this airline is poorly represented in diecast, and I am curious to hear your thoughts (if any) on this carrier.
Thank you for reading!
