Blue1

If you stood at the fence in Helsinki, Stockholm or Copenhagen between 2004 and 2015, you knew them: blue aircraft with a digit in the name. Blue1 was the Finnish subsidiary of SAS – small compared to Finnair, but with a remarkably colorful mix of types. From the four-engine “Jumbolino” (the Avro RJ) through the long MD-90 to the compact Boeing 717, the fleet changed several times in a good ten years. This page shows you how a small night cargo airline became Blue1, which aircraft it flew and how to recognize it with confidence on old photos.

Blue1 at a glance

Blue1 was a Finnish airline based in Vantaa, right at Helsinki Airport. Its roots go back to 1987: that was when Air Botnia came into being, beginning operations in June 1988. In January 1998 SAS Group bought the company, and in early 2004 it was renamed Blue1. From then on it was the Finnish pillar in the network of SAS – with feeder flights to the hubs in Stockholm and Copenhagen and its own direct connections from Helsinki.

Blue1 reached its peak in the second half of the 2000s. In 2005 it was Finland’s second-largest airline and the largest between Finland and the Scandinavian neighbor countries. In 2011 it carried more than 1.7 million passengers. After that things went gradually downhill: from 2012, Blue1 flew only as a production operation for SAS, in 2015 SAS sold it to CityJet, and in 2016 the name disappeared for good.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code KF: appeared in the flight number until Blue1 switched to SAS SK flight numbers in November 2012.
• ICAO code BLF: appeared in the air traffic control flight plan and in old ADS-B records.
• Callsign: in sources it appears as BLUEFIN or BLUEFINN – the allusion to “Blue” and “Finn” is clear in both variants.

For archive work, the code change in 2012 matters. A Blue1 aircraft that shows up in the schedule from November 2012 flew with an SK flight number. If you’re cross-checking old sightings against schedules or tracker histories, you therefore have to search for KF or SK depending on the date. The difference between flight number and callsign is explained in the article Callsign vs. flight number, and you’ll find the system behind the codes under IATA and ICAO codes explained.

The history of Blue1

Period	Event	Fleet in this phase
1987/1988	Founded as Air Botnia, operations from June 1988	Cessna 402, Embraer Bandeirante
1993–1995	Expansion with leased Jetstreams, returned in 1995 after financial problems	BAe Jetstream 31
January 1998	Takeover by SAS Group	Saab 340
1999–2001	First jets	Fokker F28, from 2001 Avro RJ (BAe 146) and Saab 2000
2003/2004	New name Blue1	Avro RJ85 and RJ100
November 2004	Regional partner of Star Alliance	Avro RJ, Saab 2000
from 2006	Strong growth, new European routes	MD-90 joins
2009–2012	Lapland routes, fleet overhaul	ATR 72, from 2010 Boeing 717
November 2012	Operations for SAS, SK flight numbers, exit from Star Alliance	Boeing 717, last Avro RJ85 until 2013
2014/2015	Downsizing, sale to CityJet	717s from nine to five, retired in 2015
February 2016	Renamed CityJet Oy	–

Air Botnia: the start with the Bandeirante

Air Botnia began modestly. With small Embraer Bandeirantes, the young airline flew cargo at night and offered passenger flights from Helsinki to Kauhajoki and Seinäjoki in western Finland. The name refers to the Gulf of Bothnia, on whose coast this region lies. In 1993, leased BAe Jetstream 31s joined, but the growth overstretched the finances: in 1995 the manufacturer took the aircraft back, and Air Botnia was close to the end. It kept flying on a smaller scale – and thereby became interesting to a big neighbor.

Under the SAS umbrella

In January 1998, SAS Group took over Air Botnia. SAS replaced the Jetstreams with Saab 340s, and in 1999 the first jets arrived with the Fokker F28. From 2001 the next step followed: four-engine jets of the BAe 146/Avro RJ family replaced the F28, partly because of stricter noise rules, and the fast turboprop Saab 2000 replaced the Saab 340.

At the turn of 2003/2004, Air Botnia became Blue1. According to Finnish-language accounts, another factor was that “Botnia” was easily confused with “Bosnia” abroad – a problem for an airline that increasingly flew to Central Europe.

Star Alliance and the growth years

In November 2004, Blue1 joined Star Alliance – together with Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines as one of the alliance’s first three regional partners. For an airline of this size, that was a knighthood. The years after were the most successful: in 2006, ten new nonstop routes in Europe were added, and capacity grew by more than half. In 2008, Blue1 moved its London flights from Stansted to Heathrow, and in 2009 Lapland connections such as Paris–Kittilä followed, as well as summer destinations like Biarritz, Dubrovnik and Split.

From network to SAS production

From 2011, Blue1 focused more strongly on Scandinavia again, and several Western European destinations were dropped. On November 1, 2012, the big turning point came: Blue1 became a production operation for SAS, the flights ran under SK flight numbers and were marketed as SAS. On the same date, its own Star Alliance membership ended. The last domestic route Helsinki–Vaasa ended in August 2013, and in 2014 the 717 fleet shrank from nine to five aircraft.

The end via CityJet

In October 2015, SAS announced the sale of Blue1 to the Irish CityJet. In return, CityJet took over wet-lease flights for SAS and ordered new Bombardier CRJ900s for them. The Boeing 717s left Blue1 that same autumn, and in December 2015 the fleet was empty. In February 2016, the company was renamed CityJet Oy – and the name Blue1 disappeared. How wet leasing works is explained in the article Wet lease explained.

The fleet: from turboprops to the 717

Blue1 changed types more often than most airlines of its size. For spotters that’s a stroke of luck: the fleet almost always tells you which period a photo comes from.

Type	Period (approx.)	Role at Blue1	Spotter note
Saab 340	1998–2001	First SAS turboprop	Small, twin-engine, for regional routes
Fokker F28	1999–2001	First jet	Brief stint, engines at the rear
Saab 2000	2001–2006	Fast turboprop	Long nose, propellers far forward
Avro RJ85	2001/2003–2013	Workhorse of the early Blue1 years	Four engines, high wing, T-tail
Avro RJ100	2003–2009	Larger sister of the RJ85	Longer fuselage, otherwise like the RJ85
McDonnell Douglas MD-90	2006–2011	Largest type in the fleet	Very long fuselage, large engines at the rear
ATR 72	2009–2012	Turboprop for shorter routes	High-wing with two propellers
Boeing 717-200	2010–2015	Last uniform fleet, up to nine	Compact, T-tail, engines at the rear

The dates vary by one to two years depending on the source because arrivals and departures ran over longer periods. As a rough guide they work well, though.

Avro RJ: the Jumbolino chapter

The Avro RJ85 and the longer Avro RJ100 defined the first Blue1 years. The four-engine regional jets of British manufacture – the manufacturer was the predecessor company of BAE Systems – were built for short routes and smaller airports. Two RJ100s joined in October 2003. The RJ100s left the fleet by 2009, and the last RJ85s stayed until 2013.

MD-90: the long guest from the SAS group

From around 2006, Blue1 also flew the McDonnell Douglas MD-90, which was in service until 2011. With its long fuselage and large engines at the rear, it was the largest aircraft in Blue1’s history. If you mix it up with an MD-80, look at the engines: on the MD-90 they are clearly thicker. The manufacturer was McDonnell Douglas, which merged into Boeing in 1997.

Boeing 717: the trademark of the last years

From 2010, Blue1 built up a fleet of Boeing 717-200s, which replaced the Avro RJ85s and the MD-90s. The aircraft, with 115 seats, came used, among others from the Spanish Spanair stock. At the peak, nine 717s flew for Blue1. The 717 is the last development of the DC-9 line and was built by Boeing after the merger with McDonnell Douglas – with two Rolls-Royce BR715s at the rear.

In 2014, Blue1 passed on four of the nine 717s, and the rest followed in 2015. In total, five aircraft went to Delta Air Lines and four to Volotea. Volotea retired its last 717 in January 2021, which ended the type’s scheduled service in Europe.

CRJ900: the successor that was no longer Blue1

The Bombardier CRJ900 is closely tied to Blue1’s history, but no longer to the brand. With the sale to CityJet, the plan was to replace the remaining five 717s with eight new CRJ900s, which CityJet operates on a wet lease for SAS. CityJet ordered eight firm aircraft and six options. The CRJ900s then flew in SAS colors – Blue1 as a brand of its own no longer played a role. The manufacturer of the CRJ family was Bombardier.

How to recognize Blue1

The name gives away the base colors: blue and white, plus the “Blue1” titles in which the digit is part of the name. For dating a photo, though, a close look at the livery is worthwhile.

With the Boeing 717, Blue1 introduced the design concept “Flowing” from 2010, meant to recall water and Finnish lakes. What was special: the flowing shapes varied from aircraft to aircraft, and most 717s got a variant of their own along with a name. For collectors, that’s a rare case in which it pays to photograph every registration individually. In addition, two Boeing 717s wore the Star Alliance special livery for a time – you’ll find more on these alliance designs under Alliance liveries.

Blue1 and the airports in the north

Home was Helsinki-Vantaa. From here Blue1 flew to Scandinavia, the Baltics, Western and Southern Europe and, in the winter months, to Lapland. The most important partner airports in the SAS network were Copenhagen and Stockholm Arlanda. From March 2012, Blue1 also used Copenhagen Kastrup as a hub of its own.

For spotters in Germany, Blue1 was an airline you saw occasionally at big airports. Destinations at times included Berlin and Munich, until the network was scaled back to Scandinavia from 2011. Photos from those years are therefore often chance finds – and all the more valuable today.

If you’d like to trace Blue1’s history on location, a visit to the Suomen Ilmailumuseo at Helsinki Airport, the Finnish aviation museum right next to the airfield, is worthwhile. And if you photograph CRJ900s in SAS colors in Copenhagen that fly on a wet lease for SAS, you’re in a sense seeing the successors: a proven spot for that is the Flyvergrillen at Copenhagen Airport.

Blue1 compared with its neighbors

In the north there were several regional airlines with a similar pattern. A short comparison helps with placing them:

Airline	Country	Role	Connection to Blue1
Finnair	Finland	National network airline, oneworld	Biggest competitor out of Helsinki
Norra	Finland	Regional operation for Finnair	Finnish counterpart on the other side
SAS	Scandinavia	Parent group	Owner 1998–2015
CityJet	Ireland	Wet lease for SAS	Buyer in 2015, successor in 2016
Cimber	Denmark	Regional airline	Also flew CRJ900s for SAS, taken over by CityJet in 2017
Estonian Air	Estonia	National airline (historic)	Neighbor across the Gulf of Finland

You’ll find more of the big picture in the overview Regional airlines in Europe.

Common mix-ups

• Thinking Blue1 was a Finnair subsidiary – Blue1 belonged to SAS and was Finnair’s competitor.
• Thinking every blue Avro RJ in Helsinki is Blue1 – the OH- registration and the titles decide.
• Confusing the MD-90 with the MD-80 – the MD-90 has much larger engines at the rear.
• Thinking the Boeing 717 is a DC-9 – the two look similar, but the 717 has the more modern BR715 engines.
• Logging the CRJ900 as a Blue1 type – after the sale, the CRJ900s flew for CityJet on behalf of SAS, not under the Blue1 brand.
• Searching for a KF flight number after 2012 – from November 2012 everything ran under SK.

Conclusion

Blue1 was more than an SAS branch in Helsinki. A small night cargo airline with Bandeirantes became a Star Alliance partner that connected Finland with the whole of Europe while flying an astonishing variety of types. With the conversion into an SAS production operation, the departure of the 717s and the sale to CityJet, the story ended quietly. For spotters, an exciting archive remains: type, registration and livery generation tell you on every photo which phase it comes from. How to document such finds is shown in the article Documenting sightings in your logbook.