Oslo's Gardermoen Airport was fully opened for business on 8 October following an overnight move from Fornebu Airport, which had previously served the Norwegian capital.
The new airport is located 50km (30 miles) from the city centre and was constructed at a cost of NKr12.9 billion ($1.7 billion). Fornebu has now been closed and the site will in future be used for a mixture of light industry and residential accommodation.
Gardermoen had already been opened to some charter traffic since 1 July.
The new airport has a capacity of 17 million passengers, some 4 million more than at Fornebu. With 11.7 million passengers passing through Oslo in 1997, however, and when the average predicted growth rates are taken into account, the new airport will almost certainly need to be expanded within five to seven years.
The opening prompted a three-day strike at local carrier Braathens, when pilots demanded working time changes to reflect the additional travel time taken to reach Gardermoen. The dispute ended on 9 October.
Source: Flight International
