Editing Blue1 (section)

== History ==
[[File:Embraer EMB-110P OH-EBD Botnia HEL 280894 edited-3.jpg|thumb|right|Air Botnia [[Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante]] at Helsinki Vantaa in 1994]]
[[File:Blue 1 Headquarters 01.jpg|thumb|Blue1 head office in [[Vantaa]]]]

===Early years===
The airline was established in 1987 and started operations in 1988 as '''Air Botnia''', flying [[Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante]]s on night cargo flights and on passenger services from [[Helsinki]] to [[Kauhajoki]] and [[Seinäjoki]].<ref name="AIoct04 p42">Pagiola 2004, p. 42.</ref> It started to supplement its unpressurised Bandeirantes with leased [[British Aerospace Jetstream 31]]s in 1993, but cash flow problems in the summer of 1995 caused British Aerospace to repossess the Jetstreams and brought Air Botnia to the point of bankruptcy, but it continued operations in a reduced scale.<ref name="AIoct04 p42-3">Pagliola 2004, pp. 42–43.</ref>

The airline was purchased by SAS Group in January 1998, who replaced its Jetstreams with [[Saab 340]]s later that year. Air Botnia received its first jets, [[Fokker F28 Fellowship]]s, in 1999. The elderly F28s were soon replaced as their high noise levels restricted operations, with [[British Aerospace 146|Avro RJ85]]s being received in 2001. The Saab 340s were replaced by larger [[Saab 2000]]s at the same time.<ref name="AIoct04 p44">Pagiola 2004, p. 44.</ref>

===Development since 2004===
Air Botnia was renamed Blue1 in January 2004,<ref name="AIoct04 p45">Pagliola 2004, p. 45.</ref> and joined [[Star Alliance]] as its first regional member on 3 November 2004. Blue1 became a full member of [[Star Alliance]] on 1 January 2009. Blue1 left Star Alliance in November 2012 and became an affiliate of [[Scandinavian Airlines]].

In 2005 Blue1 became the second-largest Finnish airline with more than 100 daily flights and the biggest operator between Finland and the Nordic nations Sweden, Denmark and Norway. In 2006 Blue1 started 10 new non-stop routes to Europe increasing its total capacity by more than 50%. In 2008 Blue1 moved its London operations from Stansted to [[Heathrow Airport]], and expanded its domestic business routes. In 2009 new routes to [[Lapland (Finland)|Lapland]], including Paris-Kittilä were opened for the winter season and routes to Biarritz, Dubrovnik and Split for summer travel.

Blue1 was the first network airline in Northern Europe to be granted ISO 14001 environmental certificate.<ref name="FI">[[Flight International]] 27 March 2007</ref> On 1 November 2012, Blue1 became a service producer for SAS. This means that marketing and sales were then handled by SAS and its flights carried the SAS flight prefix "SK".

In March 2015, it was announced that Blue1 was to sell their entire fleet of [[Boeing 717-200]]s to [[Volotea]] and [[Delta Air Lines]] and was to replace them with [[Boeing 737-600]]s from its parent, [[Scandinavian Airlines]],<ref name="ch-aviation.com">{{Cite web|url=http://ch-aviation.com/portal/news/35651-finlands-blue-to-offload-b717-fleet-to-volotea-delta|title=Finland's Blue to offload B717 fleet to Volotea, Delta}}</ref> however Scandinavian Airlines later cancelled the plan and considered to transfer some [[Bombardier CRJ900]] from [[Cimber (airline)|Cimber]].<ref name="flygtorget.se">{{Cite web|url=http://www.flygtorget.se/Aktuellt/Artikel/?Id=11085|title=Flygtorget » Flygnyheter » Flygnyheter » Inga Boeing 737 till Blue1}}</ref>

In October 2015, [[Scandinavian Airlines]] (SAS) announced the sale of Blue1 to [[CityJet]], which was to operate the company on behalf of SAS as part of a larger relationship.<ref name="blue1sold">[http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150930006973/en/SAS-Enters-Agreements-Cityjet-Wet-Lease-Sale#.Vg13J2t7b9I businesswire.com - SAS Enters into Agreements with Cityjet for Wet Lease and Sale of Blue1] 1 October 2015</ref> In December 2015, Blue1 did not operate any aircraft and its own website has been redirected to [[Scandinavian Airlines|SAS]]'s website.<ref>[http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/airline/KF ch-aviation.com - Blue1] retrieved 20 December 2015</ref> In 2016, Blue1 was dissolved and merged into its new parent CityJet.<ref name="ch-aviation">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/airline/KF|title = Blue 1 on ch-aviation}}</ref>