Avinor Oslo Airport celebrates its 20th anniversary

Oslo Airport was officially opened by His Majesty King Harald on October 8^th 1998 as Norway’s new main airport. A Color Air flight with Captain Tord Tangvik at the controls was the first departure. The plane took off at 06.58, bound for Ålesund, Vigra.

“Despite a contentious start Oslo Airport has become a huge success, and passengers can now travel to and from Norway much more easily than in the past. Norway’s principle airport ensures constant traffic flow, providing a vital public service to many districts,” said Minister of Transport Jon Georg Dale.

“I want to congratulate with the anniversary and wish Avinor good luck with future expansion plans. We need a strong Oslo Airport also in the years to come.”

Opening of a new Oslo Airport terminal
Work started on the building a new terminal in the summer of 2011. It consisted of a brand new pier covering a floor area of 63,000 m2. Terminal floor area increased by 117,000 square metres, and on 27 April 2017 it was officially opened by the former Transport Minister, Ketil Solvik-Olsen.

“Maintaining safe, stable operation with high capacity throughout the building period without affecting passengers to any great degree was important to us. The whole thing was a complicated puzzle, but we can thank all our skilled employees and our partners for making it succeed," says the CEO of Avinor, Dag Falk-Petersen.

Employees are key to success
Øyvind Hasaas took over the job of former airport director Nic. Nilsen in 2014, and was responsible for the completion of new Oslo Airport on time and within budget. His principle concern now is how to use the "new" airport to provide the best possible service to passengers.

“When we completed the new Oslo Airport, we were given a great opportunity to step up among the best airports in Europe. Now there's room for a truly great level of service, with more space, more dining and more shops. We now offer even better facilities for the airlines and hopefully, that will translate into more direct routes to major and important markets throughout the world. In conclusion: Norwegian and international travellers gain an airport they will be delighted with,” he says and points to what he thinks is the key to success:

“What makes Oslo Airport truly unique is the people in it. I am impressed and proud to see how everyone makes the effort to provide something a little extra for passengers, regardless of their employer or where they work in the airport. We can see the results in customer satisfaction surveys, punctuality and above all our attractiveness to airlines.

Anniversary Week
To celebrate this important milestone, Avinor employees will be visible throughout the terminal all day long. Between 08:00 and 17:00 on the actual day, cookies and drawing books will be distributed for children, along with a wheel of fortune game and pop-up concerts.

A number of competitions have been held on Facebook in collaboration with Widerøe and SAS, where our followers can win airline tickets. Two new competitions will be announced on Monday 8th and Wednesday 10th of October, giving Oslo Airport's Facebook followers the chance to win an experience at the airport and Cash Points from Norwegian.

The new increase in capacity at the main airport equates to approximately 32 million passengers annually. There were 27.2 million in 2017.

Follow Oslo Airport on Facebook here.

Archive photos can be downloaded below.