Bjørn Kjos life and biography

Bjørn Kjos, born 18 June 1946 in Ringerike, Norway is a Norwegian aviator, lawyer, author and businessperson.
He is the largest owner and CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavia's second largest airline.

Kjos was born and grew up in Sokna in Ringerike. In 1953, his father Ola started the airline Norsk Skogbruksfly, and bought a Piper Cub. Bjørn became a trained pilot in the Royal Norwegian Air Force during two years of training in Mississippi and Arizona in the United States, and flew Lockheed F-104 Starfighter fighter jets from 1969 to 1975. Because Scandinavian Airlines System did not need any new pilots, Kjos started studying law. From 1983 to 2002, he worked as a lawyer, and was also for a period a judge in Moss District Court. Since 1993 he has access to work with Supreme Court cases.

CAREER

In 1986, Bjørn and his brother Tore started Read-gruppen, that worked with seismology in the North Sea for the oil industry. In 1993, following the bankruptcy of the airline Busy Bee, Kjos and several employees started Norwegian Air Shuttle, that used Fokker 50 aircraft to fly regional routes in Western Norway for Braathens SAFE. Kjos chaired the company from 1993 to 1996. Kjos also owned part of Lufttransport, where he was chair until 2005, when it was sold to Lufttransport. In 2002, Kjos transformed Norwegian Air Shuttle into a low-cost airline, and leased eight Boeing 737-300s. With the imminent bankruptcy of Braathens, Norwegian Air Shuttle quickly became Norway's second largest airline. Since Kjos took over as CEO of the regional airline in 2002, Norwegian Air Shuttle has become the second-larget airline in Scandinavia.

PERSONAL LIFE

Kjos is married to Gerd and has three adult children. He enjoys hiking and sailing, and owns an apartment in Lofoten and a cabin in Hardangervidda. In 2006, he débuted with the spy thriller The Murmansk Affair (Norwegian: Murmanskaffæren). In his public appearances, he is known to be an extremely jovial man.

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