Bergen Airport, Flesland

The first aircraft to operate in Bergen was a demonstration flight by Carl Gustav Cederström on 25 September 1911.[3]^: 6 The first airport in the Bergen area was Flatøy Air Station, built by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service on the island of Flatøy. The water aerodrome was established in 1919, it remained in use until 1940.[3]^: 32 Norway's first scheduled airline service was started by Det Norske Luftfartsrederi between Bergen, Haugesund and Stavanger in 1920, and operated out of Bergen Airport, Sandviken, a water aerodrome just north of the city center.[3]^: 21 The aerodrome became the Bergen base for both Norwegian Air Lines and Vestlandske Luftfartsselskap.[3]^: 20

Planning of an airport with an airstrip took place during the 1930s. A series of public institutions made various reports between 1931 and 1938, which largely recommended Flesland as a location, which was at the time located in the then independent municipality of Fana. The main alternative was Herdla, an island northernmost in Askøy, which was first recommended in 1933. The main disadvantage with Flesland was the topography and that it would not be possible to build longer runways than 800 and 850 meters (2,620 and 2,790 ft), respectively. A municipal committee recommended therefore in 1938 that Herdla be chosen, to be jointly financed by the state and the municipality[3]^: 40

After the German occupation of Norway, the Wehrmacht started looking for a location for an airstrip. They were partially in need for a counteraction against British raids and in part in need to protect German ship traffic. Four locations were considered: Nesttun, Haukåsmyrene in Åsane, Flesland and Herdla. The choice of Herdla was taken after a German bomber emergency landed in a field and was later able to take off from there. Herdla received two runways, the longest 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) long.[3]^: 40

The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) started working on plans for an airport for Bergen in 1947. Herdla was by them seen as the prime candidate, against based on the poor topography around Bergen.[3]^: 43 The CAA recommended that Herdla be chosen and that the two runways be expanded. However, its director, Einar Bøe, was skeptical to the Herdla plans, citing the lack of possibilities to extend the runway past the initially proposed 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) and the long travel distance from Herdla to the city. At the time there was no bridge either from Herdla to Askøy nor from Askøy to the mainland, nor was there a road across the island. Transport would therefore have to be carried out from Bergen using a ferry. The Minister of Transport and Communications Nils Langhelle from Bergen supported Bøe's concerns and recommended that Parliament place construction of an airport serving Bergen on hold.[3]^: 44

Aerial view of Flesland

Check in area in the new terminal opened in 2017.

Engineering reports were made of both Herdla and Flesland in 1950 and 1951. Previous investigations of Flesland had concluded that the length of the runway was limited to a small valley which is located at about the middle of the current runway. The new report proposed connecting the proposed area to a larger area to the south of the valley, which was at the right elevation. This would allow for a 3,000-meter (9,800 ft) long runway.[3]^: 46 A political concern was the high cost of constructing a new airport. By 1950 land airports had been built for Oslo Airport, Fornebu, Stavanger, Trondheim and Kristiansand. This was supplemented with SAS deciding to terminate the services to Oslo and instead provide a feeder service to Stavanger.[3]^: 63

Alternatives were launched by two competing airlines: Braathens SAFE proposed a minor upgrade to Herdla which would allow them to operate with their de Havilland Heron aircraft. Widerøe on their side proposed using their Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats, but these proved to expensive. At the same time the Royal Norwegian Air Force stated looking at Flesland as a suitable air station. Military engineers surveyed the area and concluded that it was well-suited for military purposes. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) granted funding for seven air stations in Norway in 1952, but these did not include Flesland.[3]^: 64

Financing was instead secured through a national military communications project, of which 16 million Norwegian krone (NOK) was set aside over a period of three years, which would secure construction of a 1,460-meter (4,790 ft) runway. A further NOK 4 million was presumed financed by the municipalities of Bergen and Fana to build a terminal, eminent domain and a road. The plans were passed by Parliament on 25 April 1952. The military funding was arranged by Langhelle, who by then had been appointed Minister of Defence. Flesland received additional NATO grants in 1953, which would finance NOK 50 million and the Ministry of Defence NOK 5 million. The increased funding allowed the runway to be extended to 2,440 meters (8,010 ft).[3]^: 66

US Air Force General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon visiting Flesland Air Station in 1981

Construction started on 14 August 1952 with construction of a road from Blomsterdalen.[3]^: 53 Construction on the airport lot itself started in early 1953. Between 200 and 300 people worked on the construction, some of which lived in sheds at Nordheim. Work was carried out in two shifts. Thirty farms were partially expropriated. Half a million cubic meters (18 million cu ft) of rock were blasted and a similar amount of earthwork moved in the construction process. The work consisted of a 2,440-by-45-meter (8,005 by 148 ft) runway and an equivalently long taxiway, although it was only half the width. The terminal building cost NOK 200,000 and was located next to a parking lot with place for seventy cars. A 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) long barbed wire fence circumferenced the airport.[3]^: 56 The airport had instrument landing system from the start.[3]^: 78 Two people were killed in the construction, which had a total cost of NOK 70 million.[3]^: 56

The first aircraft to land at the airport was a de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter of the air force on 18 June 1954. At the time 800 meters (2,600 ft) of the runway was completed. Several in the year the paved section was extended to 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) and several Douglas DC-3 aircraft landed.[3]^: 72 The first revenue flight was a chartered carried out by Braathens SAFE for SK Brann, who flew to Oslo to play a football match.[3]^: 55 The military officially took the airport into use on 14 September 1954.[3]^: 72 The official civilian opening took place on 2 October 1955. By then the airport had a temporary terminal and control tower, the airport road was not paved, aviation fuel tanks were not installed and there was no snow-removal equipment.[3]^: 69

From the opening, Flesland was served by three airlines. SAS flew three round trips to Oslo and once per day to Stavanger, Kristiansand and onwards to Aalborg in Denmark, with correspondence onwards to Copenhagen. Twice per week the Stavanger flight corresponded with services to London and Amsterdam. Vestlandske Luftfartsselskap flew services northwards along the coast to towns in Møre og Romsdal and to Trondheim. Iceland-based Loftleiðir received permission to operate a flight from Flesland via Reykjavík to New York twice per week.[3]^: 78

Eurocopter Super Puma operated by Helikopter Service

The airport had 70,000 passengers during its first twelve months of operations and exceeded 100,000 the following year.[3]^: 78 The temporary terminal was too small for this traffic and already during construction there was designed a larger terminal by Halfdan Grieg. By 1956 it was determined that the new terminal building would be too small. Also an expansion of the runway was discussed that year. SAS announced that they would take delivery of the intercontinental jetliner Douglas DC-8, which would require a longer runway than was available at both Flesland and Fornebu. The cost of extending the runway to 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) would cost NOK 3.5 million in Bergen and NOK 30 million in Oslo.[3]^: 80

Helikopter Service established itself at Flesland in 1958, two years after the Stavanger-based company was established.[3]^: 142 The same year Vestlandske Luftfartsselskap filed for bankruptcy and Ålesund Airport, Vigra opened. Thus Braathens SAFE was awarded the concession for the route Stavanger–Bergen–Ålesund–Trondheim.[3]^: 86 Both SAS and Braathens were granted concession to operate the route from Kristiansand via Stavanger to Bergen.[4]^: 112 The same year a new terminal building opened.[3]^: 227

During a short period in 1959, there was a squadron stationed at Flesland. From 1962 there were regular detachment within NATO that were earmarked for Flesland. Every other year there were larger exercises with about a dozen aircraft and lasting for several weeks. Smaller training sessions were held every six weeks.[3]^: 92 The air station was upgraded in 1962 and consisted of a series of mountain halls, which could house more than twenty-five fighter aircraft. These also include barracks and commando facilities.[3]^: 91 Flesland was by NATO designated as a deployment site for nuclear warheads, which had prior to 1962 been designated to Sola Air Station. Components for nuclear bombs were most probably stored at Flesland, although the warheads were probably not stored there.[3]^: 105

US Air Force General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and Braathens Boeing 737-200 at Flesland in 1981

With the delivery of DC-8-aircraft, SAS started a direct service to New York. Fornebu had too short a runway to handle the DC-8, so Flesland became the main intercontinental hub in Norway. Another important factor during the 1960s was the low range of the aircraft—thus Bergen was a stop-over for aircraft from Stockholm and Copenhagen. Later the route was taken over using the Boeing 747.[3]^: 138 SAS started a direct service from Bergen to Tromsø in 1965.[4]^{: 121–125} Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget opened in 1970, with Braathens SAFE receiving the route concession from Bergen. Two years later, in a national realignment of concessions, SAS lost their right to fly to Tromsø. Instead Braathens SAFE was granted the right to fly from Bergen via Ålesund, Kristiansund and the newly opened Molde Airport, Årø to Bodø and Tromsø.[4]^{: 186–194}

The first four regional airports in Sogn og Fjordane and Møre og Romsdal were opened in 1971 and Widerøe started flights to Florø, Førde, Sogndal and Ørsta–Volda. They were operated with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft and passengers had to transfer at Flesland to reach Oslo.[5] A SAS service to New York from Oslo Airport, Gardermoen was introduced in 1974, and gradually the service was reduced, in part because of the increased range of newer aircraft.[3]^: 138 Haugesund Airport, Karmøy opened in 1975 and SAS opened a service between the two cities.[4]

Because of the increase of traffic was making the terminal building more cramped, a new administration building opened in the early 1970s, with a fire station in the ground floor.[3]^: 227 At the peak in 1976 and 1977, the air station had 60 employees and 15 conscripts.[3]^: 96 Helikopter Service started services to offshore oil platforms in May 1976;[3]^: 142 the first services were to Statfjord[3]^: 145 and were flown using Sikorsky S-61 helicopters.[3]^: 147 Busy Bee started a competing service from Bergen via Haugesund to Stavanger in 1982.[4]^{: 268–277} Two years, late Norsk Air started a service from Sandefjord.[4]^{: 102–105} Braathens SAFE was allowed to operate the Oslo to Bergen route from 1987. Automatic check-in machines were introduced the following year.[6]

A Boeing 737-300 of Norwegian Air Shuttle at a domestic gate; the control tower in the background

Widerøe Dash 8 with Scandinavian Airlines and KLM Boeing 737 in the background

The current terminal opened in 1988, was also designed by Halfdan Grieg and cost NOK 250 million. This was followed up with a new control tower which opened in 1991.[3]^: 228 It had a limited height because of restrictions caused by the military designation of the main parallel taxiway as an emergency runway.[7]^: 40 By the mid-1980s there were 35 to 40 daily offshore helicopter flights out of Flesland each day. This was causing a press on the runway's capacity as the helicopters had to cross the runway to reach the North Sea. As estimates showed up to 60 flights per day, the airport started working on plans for a separate helicopter terminal, which would have been located southwest of the old main terminal and would have its own helicopter runway. Instead the traffic flatted out and the old main terminal was converted to a helicopter terminal.[3]^: 146 Braathens Helikopter established a base with two helicopters at Flesland in 1990.[8][9] Within two years it had secured a thirty-percent market share of the offshore traffic.[10] However, the airline was taken over by Helikopter Service in 1993.[11]

With the ending of the Cold War following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the military activity at Flesland diminished.[3]^: 91 Planning of the downgrading of the air station had started in 1988, and from 1995 only personnel necessary for maintaining infrastructure was left, reducing the crew to 33.[3]^: 96 Braathens SAFE introduced its first international Bergen service in 1991, to Newcastle.[4]^{: 295–300} Norwegian Air Shuttle, originally a regional airline, took over Braathens' and Busy Bee's regional services from Bergen following the latter's bankruptcy in 1992. Norwegian originally flew to Kristiansand, Haugesund, Molde and Kristiansund.[12][13] The domestic airline market was deregulated on 1 April 1994, so airlines no longer needed a concession to operate domestic routes. The immediate consequence was an increase of the number of flights by Braathens SAFE to Oslo.[4]^{: 340–341}

Oslo Airport, Gardermoen opened on 8 October 1998, replacing the congested Fornebu. For the first time, an airline could receive sufficient landing slots to challenge SAS and Braathens on domestic routes. The low-cost carrier Color Air was established, and started flights from Oslo to Bergen using Boeing 737-300 aircraft.[14] The following price war on the route saw lower ticket prices and increased capacity.[15][16][17] Color Air filed for bankruptcy on 27 September 1999,[18] ending a price war which had cost the airlines NOK 3 billion.[19] The final demise of the air station came in 1999, when all stationary assets were sold, including 30 vehicles. The daily operation of the air station was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy, who have six employees at the base. Flesland Air Station has since only held mobilization status and will only be used by the air force in case of war and larger emergencies.[3]^: 96 Bergen Air Transport started flights to Notodden in 1999.[20] A new secondary surveillance radar was built between 1999 and 2001 at Sotra.[7]^: 22 The domestic terminal was expanded with 500 square meters (5,400 sq ft) and a new baggage sorting area with 800 square meters (8,600 sq ft) in 2001.[7]^: 27

SAS bought Braathens in 2001, and from the following year, only SAS flew the Oslo route.[21] Within months, Norwegian started a low-cost route to Gardermoen.[22] SAS Commuter took over Norwegian's regional routes in 2003.[23] The Norwegian Meteorological Institute closed its office at the airport in 2003 and all meteorological observations have since been carried out by Avinor.[3]^: 188 In 2004, SAS and Braathens merged to form SAS Braathens.[24] The airline changed its name back to Scandinavian Airlines in 2007.[25] The international arrival section was expanded with 450 square meters (4,800 sq ft) in 2005, followed by an extra story over part of the terminal, used as offices and allowed a doubling of the size of the duty-free.[7]^: 27

Wanderlust announced Flesland as Europe's best and the world's sixth-best international airport in 2009.[26] The helicopter terminal was renovated in 2009.[7]^: 27 An airport surveillance radar was installed in 2010 and a new backup radar was installed in 2011.[7]^: 22 An additional 350 square meters (3,800 sq ft) of office space was added in 2010.[7]^: 27 Widerøe took over SAS' regional routes to Bergen in 2010.[27] In May 2022, United Airlines commenced seasonal service to Newark using a Boeing 757.[28][29] The final flight departed four months later.[29][30]

• Østerbø, Kjell (2005). Da Bergen tok av (in Norwegian). Avinor. ISBN 82-303-0495-5.
• Tjomsland, Audun (2005). Høyt spill om Torp (in Norwegian). Sandefjord: Tjomsland Media. ISBN 82-997212-0-2.