Oslo Airport, Fornebu was the primary international airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and the area has since been redeveloped. The airport was located at Fornebu in Bærum, from the city center. Fornebu had two runways, one 06/24 and one 01/19, and a capacity of 20 aircraft. In 1996, the airport had 170,823 aircraft movements and handled 10,072,054 passengers. The airport served as a hub for Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), Braathens SAFE and Widerøe. In 1996, they and 21 other airlines served 28 international destinations. Due to limited terminal and runway capacity, intercontinental and charter airlines used Gardermoen. The Royal Norwegian Air Force retained offices at Fornebu.
The airport opened as a combined sea and land airport, serving both domestic and international destinations. It replaced the land airport at Kjeller and the sea airport at Gressholmen. In 1940, it was taken over by the German Luftwaffe, but civilian air services began again in 1946 and it was then taken over by the Norwegian Civil Airport Administration. The airport at first had three runways, each at , but these were gradually expanded, first the north–south runway and finally the east–west one in 1962. The runways retained that length until the time of the airport's closure in 1998. The same year the terminal moved south to the final location. A large-scale expansion to the terminal was constructed during the 1980s.
Facilities At the time of closing, the airport consisted of a single terminal with three satellites: two domestic and one international. The service building had three stories, one for arrival, one for departure and one for administration. Airplane capacity at the airport was 20 craft;Wisting, 1989: 80 five planes parked at the international terminal could be served with jetbridges, while passengers had to walk outdoors to get to domestic planes. The airport terminals were , of which were for the public.Wisting, 1989: 99 In the main hall of the terminal were two murals made by Kai Fjell, both which have been preserved. The largest was the Arrival and Departure which was completed in 1968 and covered three stories.
At the north part of the airport, located where the former main terminal was until 1964, were the offices of the Air Force and Fred. Olsen Airtransport, the main hangar for Braathens SAFE, as well as mechanical facilities for SAS and Fred. Olsen. The fire station and snowplowing facilities were also located there, along with the main radar center. All the terminal buildings built until the early 1960s were still intact until the closing of the airport.
In 1989, about 5,500 people worked at Fornebu. Of these, 3,600 worked for the airlines, including ground services. The airport administration had 350 employees, including administration, air control, fire fighters, meteorology and maintenance. The remaining 500 people worked for other public offices, including the police and customs, as well as service employees working for private companies involved with passenger services.
Fornebu had two runways: a main east–west runway and a secondary north–south. Only the main runway was used under ordinary weather conditions, with the north–south runway only being used if there was strong winds from the north and for general aviation, helicopters and ambulance aircraft.Wisting, 1989: 60 The main runway was equipped with instrument landing system category 1.Bredal, 1998: 176 Under ordinary weather conditions, flights to Fornebu were to, as soon as possible, divert southwards along the Oslo Fjord to avoid noise pollution to residential areas. However, when necessary, a direct approach could be made eastwards from Drammen or westwards from Grefsenåsen.Wisting, 1989: 94–97 Until 1996, Oslo Air Traffic Control Center (Oslo ATCC) was located at Fornebu. It had the responsibility to oversee all air traffic in southeastern Norway, bordering to Dovre in the north, almost to Stavanger in the west, halfway to Stockholm to the east and almost to Denmark in the south.
Since Fornebu is located on a peninsula, all transport to the airport needed to go via Lysaker. A branch from the motorway European Route E18 allowed access to the airport. Lysaker Station is on the Drammen Line, and was served by both local and regional trains, including services to Oslo Central Station. In addition, Stor-Oslo Lokaltrafikk offered bus transport to the airport from Asker and Bærum, including Lysaker. A limited number of services were extended to Snarøya. An airport coach connected the airport to the city center.Wisting, 1989: 90
Airlines and destinations
In 1996, the airport had 170,823 aircraft movements and 10,072,054 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the country.Malmø, 1997: 77 It served as the main hub for Braathens SAFE, one of three main hubs for SAS and as one of many for Widerøe.
Prior to 1 April 1994, all air transport in Norway was restricted to airlines that had received concession from the ministry. On the primary domestic routes, the traffic was split between SAS and Braathens SAFE, although both had services to Trondheim and Stavanger. SAS had a monopoly to Bergen and Northern Norway (Alta, Bardufoss, Bodø, Harstad/Narvik, Kirkenes, Longyearbyen and Tromsø), while Braathens SAFE had a monopoly to the other primary airports in Southern Norway (Haugesund, Kristiansand, Kristiansund, Molde, Røros and Ålesund). Widerøe had a monopoly on the regional state-supported routes (Brønnøysund, Florø, Førde, Sandane, Sogndal and Ørsta–Volda), and also served Stord and Sandefjord.
Following Norway joining the European Economic Area (EEA), the airline industry was deregulated, allowing any airline from any EEA member country to make domestic or international flights to Norway. However, by 1994 there was no available slots at Fornebu during the morning and evening rush hours, limiting the number of new routes that could be established. After the deregulation, Fornebu could not offer slots to new airlines, and SAS and Braathens could not establish as many competing routes as they wanted to.Bredal, 1998: 164–165 However, domestic services were provided by both SAS and Braathens SAFE to Stavanger, Bergen, Trondheim, Bodø, Harstad/Narvik, Tromsø and Longyearbyen. The remaining domestic airports were only served by the incumbent. In addition, Teddy Air offered services to Fagernes.
International services were provided by 21 airlines to 28 destinations. SAS had international flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Billund, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Helsinki, London-Heathrow, Manchester, Munich, New York, Nice, Paris, Stockholm and Zürich. Braathens SAFE offered international services to Alicante, Billund, London-Gatwick, Málaga, Newcastle and Stockholm. Lufthansa offered flights to Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. Other foreign airlines that provided services to their main hubs included Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo), Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle), Air Malta (Valletta), TAP Air Portugal (Lisbon), AirUK (London-Stansted), Alitalia (Milan), British Airways (London-Heathrow), Dan-Air (London-Gatwick), Delta Air Lines (New York-JFK), Iberia (Madrid) and (Barcelona), Icelandair (Reykjavík), KLM (Amsterdam), LOT Polish Airlines (Warsaw), Pan Am (New York-JFK) and Sabena (Brussels).
History
Background
Aviation in Oslo started in 1909, when Carl Cederström of Sweden made exhibition flights from fields at Etterstad. Following this, the Norwegian Army decided that it needed a military land airport, and established itself at Kjeller, outside Oslo, in 1912. Kjeller Airport served as the main airport for Norway until the 1930s, being the main base of the newly established Norwegian Army Air Service and the first place to have air services.Wisting, 1989: 10–12
In 1918, the first Norwegian airline, Det Norske Luftfartrederi, was established, and plans were made to start flying to Trondheim. The following year, civil aviation was discussed in the Norwegian Parliament for the first time. Norsk Luftfartsrederi wanted to start seaplane routes from Oslo, and applied to the state to be allowed to lease of the island Lindøya for 99 years. The Oslo Port Authority recommended that the application be denied, since it was already in negotiations with the state to purchase the island and seaplane services would interfere with ship traffic. The ministry recommended a ten-year lease. Sam Eyde, who was a member of parliament, recommended that the state should be responsible for all airports, and suggested a state-owned seaplane airport be built at Gressholmen. However no money was granted for construction of the airport until 1926, when Gressholmen Airport opened.Wisting, 1989: 13–20 Gressholmen was served by Norsk Luftfartsrederi and Deutsche Luft Hansa.Wisting, 1989: 30
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, the politicians became less satisfied with the solution. Kjeller was considered too far away from the city center (about , but along the mainline railway), while travel to Gressholmen needed to be made by ferry. The politicians also wanted to have a combined land- and seaplane airport, and it had become clear that serving Gressholmen was interfering with ship traffic. A committee was established to look into the matter. While considering many locations, it made detail surveys of only two places: Ekeberg, located southeast of the city center, and Fornebu, to the southwest.Wisting, 1989: 20–22
Construction
At the time, Fornebu was a mostly unpopulated area. Until 1907, a lumber mill was located at Snarøya on the southern tip. From 1921, Snarøya had received a coach service, and had grown with many single dwellings. About northeast of Fornebu is the town of Lysaker, which had a railway station on the Drammen Line. The committee decided to purchase on the northern part of the peninsula. The Fornebu solution would be more expensive, but would yield a larger airport and better landing conditions. The formal decision to build the airport was taken in 1934.Wisting, 1989: 22–26
It was the Municipality of Oslo which built the airport, having bought the land from the Municipality of Bærum. Construction was to serve as work creation for the unemployed, and workers were selected based on how long they had been unemployed and the number of people in their family. Because the need for workplaces was greatest in the winter, most of the construction was done during the winters of 1935, 1936 and 1937. Not until 1937 was a normal 48-hour week throughout the year introduced. of rock was blasted and, along with garbage from Oslo, used to fill in the swamps and depressions. Because of the delays, plans were changed and three runways were built, two long and one long. The airport was equipped with a control tower; administration building; a hangar with a workshop; and a service building. Docks for seaplanes were constructed about to the south, on the east shore of the peninsula.Wisting, 1989: 26–33