A Norwegian long-haul service from Stavanger to Hong Kong
Braathens S.A.F.E., founded in 1946 by Ludvig G. Braathen, brought a remarkably ambitious Norwegian service to the Far East in the early post-war years.
This briefing rebuilds the 1951 itinerary as a DC-4 journey across Europe, the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia, with overnight stops and local-time scheduling.
Before departure
Use a DC-4 and plan fuel carefully. Abadan - Karachi and Karachi - Bombay are long enough to make weather and cruise settings meaningful.
The times are local. The charm of the route is to fly it like a timetable: Friday departure from Oslo, overnight stops and a Wednesday arrival in Hong Kong.
What to watch
The route crosses several worlds in a few days: Scandinavia, the Mediterranean, Egypt, the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
The return schedule contains an oddity: the brochure timings did not perfectly match the listed overnight stops. Treat it as part of the period flavour.
Suggested route
Scandinavia to the Far East
Fly this chapter as an organized sequence, keeping the departures, arrivals and stops shown in the navigation cards.
ENGM → ENZV → EHAM → LSGG → LIRA → LGAT → HECA → OIAA → OPKC → VABB → VECC → VTBD → VHHH
Far East back to Scandinavia
Fly this chapter as an organized sequence, keeping the departures, arrivals and stops shown in the navigation cards.
VHHH → VTBD → VECC → VABB → OPKC → OIAA → HECA → LGAT → LIRA → LSGG → EHAM → ENZV → ENGM
© Michel Lagneau 2018