Scandinavian Airlines SAS

A pioneer in export of NORWEGIAN salmon

egil salmon buddE

Back in 1982 Harald Dahle met Egil Budde many times and made two large stories for the newspaper Morgenbladet on him and export of Norwegian salmon. I made one full page story on export of Norwegian lax. After that Egil sent me to Bangkok to make another story on the Thai-Norwegian joint fish factory ICP FRIONOR which manufac-ture fish and seafood from the Gulf of Siam for export to the United States.

Click and Play: The salmon's journey from Northern Norway to Tokyo in 36 hours

Egil Budde: Unforgettable

Egil Budde var en av pionérene innen flyfrakt av sjømat fra Norge. Gjennom sitt lange virke i SAS Cargo var han frem til pensjonistalder sentral i å utvikle flyfrakt-konsepter som bidro til bokstavelig talt å øke rekkevidden for norsk fersk sjømat.

Sammen med Halvard Lerøy, Johan Muri, Jon Skaar og Terje Korsnes startet han opp eksport av fersk laks til USA. Et prosjekt som ingen hadde troen på, men som var starten på lakseeventyret. I dag flys mer enn 250.000 tonn norsk laks årlig til nesten hele verden.

Norwegian fish ready to be air-lifted out

  Click and Play: World's first offshore fish farm in Norway

Lakse eksport pioneren Egil Budde

Gjennom sin pionérvirksomhet måtte Egil Budde overbevise produsenter og eksportører om at dette var fremtidsrettet virksomhet. Han utarbeidet også de frakt og emballasjeløsninger som måtte til for å få teori omsatt i praktisk handling. Bransjefolk som Arild Jaabæk og Kjell Westby bruker ord som energisk, innovativ, fremtids-rettet og positiv om personen Egil Budde. Harald Jan Dahle om sitt møte med Arild Jaabæk:

"I met Arild (Jaabæk) at his office at Lysaker outside Oslo. we had talked on the phone many times before that, and now we had decided to meet. Arild was enthusiastically working with air cargo and new orders. As he was setting up a new air cargo divison, we were talking about working together. Arild was the best in his field, no doubt about that! He is greatly missed by all."

Som pensjonist beholdt han også engasjementet, og arbeidsviljen. "Jeg snakket med Egil på telefonen etter at han var blitt pensjonist," forteller Harald Dahle, "Du vet jeg er en gammel mann nå," sa Egil til ham. Hvorpå Harald repliserte at, "Men du har jo det gode humøret ditt enda, og for meg så høres du ut som akurat den samme som da vi jobbet sammen om ICP Frionor i Bangkok!" Egil lo og syntes dette var morsomt å høre! Below, Norwegian Salmon in super tight packaging, no leaks or smell at all!

Specially packed Norwegian fish ready for the world markets

Click and Play: Norway exports fresh fish to China

   And this is how it started

    SAS 747 COMBI CARGO       ON ASSIGNMENT FOR EGIL BUDDE

Click and Play: "Here comes the Air Cargo!"

Oslo Gardermoen 1982: Harald Jan Dahle points towards the arriving SAS Air Cargo plane

Egil Budde: "Here comes the Air Cargo, with Jumbo Greetings!"

Meaning, here comes the Norwegian fish, the golden lax. Another cargo filled with Norweg-ian gold for the world markets. We flew this 747 from Gardermoen Cargo Terminal to Arlanda Cargo Terminal in Sweden, tells Harald Jan Dahle who has followed the fish export from the start. Harald Jan Dahle: "I made a full page story on Egil Budde and his masterful export of Norwegian lax for the newspaper Morgenbladet. He looked at it with a big smile and said, "Have you been to Bangkok before?" And I answered that I hadn't. The next thing I knew was that I was on my way to Bangkok to make another story on fish. This time on ACP Frionor fish and seafood factory in Bangkok, which took in fish from the Bay of Siam and exported it to the United States after having gone through sophisticated preparations at the plant. And, WOW did that smell good!" 

The flag of Thailand

"ACP FRIONOR" BANGKOK

     A COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE THAI FISHING INDUSTRY AND THE   NORWEGIAN FROZEN FISH INDUSTRY AND SAS AND THAI AIRWAYS

            Niels Lumholdt Senior VP             Industry Affairs Thai Airways International

          Niels Lumholt

I met Niels in Bangok in 1982 as I was also writing a story on Thai Airways. Niels was very generous and introduced me to Thai Airways people. He also wrote this personal greeing which you see below. With picture of the first SAS machine which landed on Dong Muang Airport Bankok in 1949.

Niels Lumholdt was one of the foremost strategic aviation thinkers of his generation. Played a major role in positioning Bangkok as the Aviation Hub of Asia and building up Thai Airways network around the geographical advantage of the Thai capital, as well as the competitive advantage of an attractive tourism product.

Niels Lumholdt Joined the American Express Company in Minneapolis right after graduation. He returned to Denmark in 1956, joining SAS as a sales assistant stationed in Copenhagen. Completing the SAS Management Training Programme, served as Assistant to the Regional Manager in Italy, later in Stockholm. He was appointed SAS District Sales Manager in Rome in 1962, and took over the Air-Sea Cruise Department in Hamburg 1963. He joined Thai International as System Sales Manager in 1964.

Niels Lumhold's personal message to Harald Jan Dahle, "Thank you for your visit and with all the best wishes for your contribution to the Sandinavian work in Thailand."

Lumholdt was promoted to Marketing Director in 1969, Deputy Managing Director in 1973 and Executive Vice President in 1976. In 1977 after the THAI/SAS share-holders agreement ended, appointed Senior Vice President Industry Affairs. Was concurrently Acting Vice President Corporate Planning and International Relations before resigning from Thai Airways in October 1989. Set up a consultancy company Aviation & Tourism Internat-ional which he headed until his death.

Mr. Lumholdt was granted the Royal Decoration of the Companion of the Most Ex-alted Order of the White Elephant (Fourth Class) 1981 for contributing his exper-ience in the development of Thailand’s national carrier and promoting close relations between Scandinavia and Thailand.

Magic Bangkok: Photo By Harald Jan Dahle

               Ron Howard                The British AD man who persuaded the World to fly THAI

On three occasions over a 20-year period beginning in 1960, Roy Howard headed THAI Airways International’s advertising department. Many remember these years as THAI’s golden era, when it reigned supreme amongst Asia’s airlines. Now retired and living once again in Bangkok after Australia and Hong Kong, Roy recalls his work at THAI, and the many people and events that shaped his life and the airline’s development

 THAI was a joint venture between the Thai government and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), and initially operated with three DC-6Bs provided by SAS. The management of THAI International consisted mainly of SAS executives, with a Thai chairman and managing director recruited from the Royal Thai Air Force. The cabin staff members were Thai, with Scandinavian supervisors, and some pilots and co-pilots were recruited from the RTAF. As the airline was to commence flights to nine cities throughout Asia on 1st May, 1960, we also prepared advertising to run in the other destination countries. 

  Niels Lumholdt to the right with Ron Howard. Ron: "My client at THAI International, Chris Hundrup, heard about my problems and offered me the job of advertising manager, with full expatriate conditions. These included housing and car allowances, home leave, travel perks and a substantial increase in salary. This I accepted, and I joined THAI International in September, 1960, four months after the airline commen-ced regional operations. From this date, we dispensed with Cathay Advertising, much to the ire of Jamieson, and placed our advertising direct with the media.

 Helping to create the image for a new airline was an exciting experience. My earlier training in the UK and Canada in production, media and research all came in handy when planning our international ad campaigns. At the time that I joined THAI, the head office was being renovated, and we therefore operated out of the East Asiatic Co. premises next to the Oriental Hotel. As soon as the new premises were completed, we moved to the small, two-storey building on New Road.

 While I was pursuing my new career, my wife Pauline had returned to her original profession of schoolteacher. Starting at Mrs. Clayton’s Junior School, she eventually became headmistress of the British School in Bangkok.  My promotion at THAI meant that we could afford to rent a bigger and better house, with two servants, and we decided that it was time to start a family. After a period of uncertainty, Pauline gave birth to our first son, Marc, in December 1961. Marc was delivered at the Bangkok Nursing Home by Dr. Gertie Ettinger, an Austrian Jewish refugee, who, together with her husband, Egon, also a doctor, had arrived in Bangkok before the war and had proceeded to look after many European expatriates.

   For recreation, we joined the Royal Bangkok Sports Club located in the centre of town. It offered excellent facilities ranging from tennis and squash to swimming and an 18-hole golf course. I would quite often have lunch by the pool and chat with Jim Thompson, who mysteriously vanished a few years later while on holiday in Malaysia.

My interest in jazz brought me into contact with a number of fellow enthusiasts, and eventually led to the setting up of a Bangkok Jazz Society. At the centre of this group was Joe Bunnag, the wealthy owner of the Trocadero Hotel, which was frequently the venue where we gathered to listen to recorded jazz. Other members included John Hunter, an account executive from Grant Advertising who went on to become one of the most powerful executives at Coca-Cola in Atlanta, and Lucky Thomson, a senior Australian Army officer, who was an accomplished musician.

     In early 1962, I was approached by the owner of a large Australian advertising agency regarding a move to Hong Kong. Fortune Advertising handled the Cathay Pacific Airways account throughout Asia, and because of the close relationship between THAI and Cathay Pacific, and THAI’s growing need for a range of advertising agency services throughout the region, it was proposed that Fortune set up a branch in Bangkok to handle THAI. I was keen to explore a new market, and although Pauline would have preferred to remain in Bangkok, I accepted the job of assistant managing director at Fortune, Hong Kong, and we made the move in April, 1962. 

THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS CLUB OF THAILAND FCCT.

"In 1982 I was a member of the FCCT", sais Harald Jan Dahle, "and joined in during our meetings and get togethers at the Bomboo Bar on the first floor of the Oriental Plaza shopping center located at 1 Chartered Bank Lane, New Road." Below you can see the welcome that members gave me with president of FCCT, Neil Davis at the top, "With the warmest welcome to FCCT" he wrote. What a time it was!

British Airways

Antigua

PetrOfilm HARALD DAHLE IN NELSON'S DOCKYARD BRITISH HARBOUR ANTIGUA