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Sandefjord Airport, Torp (; ) is a minor
international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...
located northeast of
Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...
and south of
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. The airport features a runway aligned 18/36. Torp partially serves as a regional airport for
Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...
and in part as a low-cost airport for
Eastern Norway Eastern Norway (, ) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Oslo, Akershus, Vestfold, Østfold, Buskerud, Telemark, and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region of Norw ...
and the capital,
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
. Widerøe have a base at Torp, serving both domestic and shorter international flights. It also sees scheduled flights by
airBaltic airBaltic, legally incorporated as AS Air Baltic Corporation, is the flag carrier of Latvia. Its head office are located on the grounds of Riga International Airport in Mārupe municipality near Riga. Its main airline hub, hub is Riga, and it o ...
,
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...
,
Wizz Air {{Infobox airline , airline = Wizz Air Holdings Plc. , IATA = , ICAO = , callsign = , aoc = , hubs = , focus_cities = , frequent_flyer = {{ubl, class=nowrap , Wizz All You Can Fly , Wizz Discount Club , Wizz Privilege Pass , ...
,
Scandinavian Airlines The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), commonly known as Scandinavian Airlines, is the national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is part of SAS Group and is headquartered in Solna, Sweden. Including its subsidiaries SAS Link and ...
, and
Norwegian Air Shuttle Norwegian Air Shuttle Aksjeselskap, ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norway, Norwegian Low-cost carrier, low-cost airline and Scandinavia's second-largest airline, behind Scandinavian Airlines. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe ...
. As of 2021, it was the second-largest airport in eastern Norway in terms of flights after Rygge shut down in 2016. The airport was built largely with
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
funding as one of several bases to be used by the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
in case of war. Construction started in 1953 and the airport was opened on 2 July 1956. By then, the military interest in the airport had dwindled. Civilian flights commenced in 1958, and in 1960, a municipal airport company was established to run a civilian sector. Vestfoldfly started operations the following year, and through a series of name changes and acquisitions has become the basis for Widerøe's operations at Torp. International services commenced in 1985 and Mediterranean charter services in 1992. The airport expanded in the 1960s and in 1997 became a Ryanair destination, which marketed it as an airport serving Oslo as Oslo Torp and Oslo South. The airport markets itself as TORP Sandefjord Airport (). The main entry road from
European route E18 European route E18 runs between Craigavon, County Armagh, Craigavon in Northern Ireland and Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the ...
traverses the
birch tree A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 to ...
forests of Fokserød Nature Preserve.


History


Establishment

Following the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and Norway's subsequent membership in NATO, it became strategically important to build several new air stations in the country. This was based on a United States analysis from 1951, carried out by General Robert K. Taylor, which intended to station three
wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...
, each of 75 aircraft, in Denmark and Norway. Each wing would have about 3,000 permanently stationed American personnel. Norwegian policy prohibited permanent stationing of foreign military personnel on Norwegian soil, but allowed the United States to build air stations that would be suitable for refueling before attacking targets within Eastern Europe. There were two main strategies that NATO intended to use that would require a new military air station in Southern Norway. The first was the "polar strategy", which involved NATO aircraft flying
nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...
s into the Soviet Union. This would require refueling stations in Norway, but only about twenty permanently stationed personnel. The second was to station aircraft to allow a
flanking maneuver In military tactics, a flanking maneuver is a movement of an armed force around an enemy force's side, or flank, to achieve an advantageous position over it. Flanking is useful because a force's fighting strength is typically concentrated ...
if Soviet troops were to attack Central Europe. Negotiations among NATO, the United States and Norway were initiated on 27 March 1951. The United States wanted to own and operate the air stations itself, and use the stations for
preemptive strike A preemptive war is a war that is commenced in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (allegedly unavoidable) war ''shortly before'' that attack materializes. I ...
s towards the Soviet Union. At the time, air stations were available for use at
Sola Sola may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Saints of Los Angeles'', a 2008 album by Mötley Crüe * ''Sola'', an album by Olga Tañón * ''Sola'', an album by Zayda y los Culpables Songs * Sola (Becky G song), "Sola" (Becky G song ...
,
Gardermoen Oslo Airport () , alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is an international airport serving Oslo, the capital and most populous city of Norway. The airport is the second largest in Scandinavia and the Nordi ...
,
Lista Lista is a former municipality located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The administrative centre was the village of Vanse where Vanse Church is located. Lista municip ...
and
Ørland Orland or Ørland is the name, or part of the name, of a number of places and people: Places Canada * Orland, Saskatchewan, a hamlet in Hillsborough No. 132, Saskatchewan Norway *Ørland Municipality, a municipality in Trøndelag county * Ørland ...
, but more capacity would be needed. On 24 November, the United States proposed converting Tønsberg Airport, Jarlsberg into an air force station. NATO dedicated NOK 48 million to rebuild the airport. The issue was discussed by
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
on 4 March 1952 along with several other proposals to build air stations or expand airports to meet NATO's needs, namely Gardermoen, Jarlsberg, Lista, Ørland, Bardufoss and Rygge. The legislature approved funding the program with NOK 92 million of the total NOK 277.6 million budget. In May 1952, Prime Minister Oscar Torp informed United States General
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
that he intended to try to convince Parliament to change the Norwegian base policies to allow permanent stationing of foreign troops. This was not successful, and Parliament would not change the policy. Instead, the politicians hoped the American fighters based in Denmark would defend Norway. Closer investigations of Jarlsberg showed that the airport was not suitable for expansion. The airport had been expanded in 1950, receiving a runway. An air station for
Republic F-84 Thunderjet The Republic F-84 Thunderjet is an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thunde ...
fighter jets would require a runway, and due to surrounding hills this was not possible at Jarlsberg. Instead, the military looked at Langåker and Torp as possible locations. However, the military did note that Jarlsberg would be easier to defend, but that the defensibility was correlated to the rugged terrain that made expansion difficult. Torp was also preferred due to its close proximity to the
European Route E18 European route E18 runs between Craigavon, County Armagh, Craigavon in Northern Ireland and Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the ...
, and the
Vestfold Line The Vestfold Line () is a railway line which runs between Drammen and Eidanger in Norway. The line connects to the Drammen Line at the northern terminus at Drammen Station and continues as the Bratsberg Line past Skien Station. The line is excl ...
and Råstad Station. The choice of location was approved by NATO on 6 September 1952, and by the
Cabinet of Norway The Council of State () is a formal body composed of the most senior government ministers chosen by the Prime Minister, and functions as the collective decision-making organ constituting the executive branch of the Kingdom. The council sim ...
on 12 September. It was unanimously passed by Parliament on 18 October, with only Torgeir Andreas Berge speaking up against the location. Berge, who lived within the approach area of the airport, was concerned about noise pollution affecting the local population. The government
expropriated Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...
the necessary land in February 1953. This covered , of which was forest, was fields and was pasture. About half the area was in the municipality of Stokke, the rest in the former municipality of Sandar. Thirty-seven land-owners were affected, receiving a combined compensation NOK 3.75 million. The builder was the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency and the main contractor was Astrup & Aubert. Other major contractors were Lo-Wi-Co, who did most of the explosives, and Byggmester Thor Kandal jr., who built the buildings. A pumping station for fuel was built at the shore at Bogen, and a pipeline built to the air station. The fuel was transported to Bogen with small tank ships from Vølle and later Slagentangen. This system was built by the United States, and was in use until 1993. The runway and taxiway were built in concrete. Up to twenty people worked on the construction at any time. The official opening occurred on 2 July 1956, when two F-84s landed at 11:00.


First civilian operation

The interest to use Torp as an air station dwindled during the 1950s. Norway did not need the station for regular stationing of aircraft, and the United States did not need it as long as Norway did not allow permanent stationing of foreign troops. In October 1956, the military stated that they did not mind if Torp also inaugurated a civilian sector. The municipalities established committee, and on 2 October 1957 the Ministry of Transport and Communications granted permission to establish a municipal civilian sector at Torp. At the time, Jarlsberg was still being used for scheduled services to Vestfold, and the plans to open Torp as a civilian airport met political resistance from Tønsberg. The civilian sector would cost NOK 900,000, including a terminal building, a
control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled a ...
, small maintenance facilities and a tarmac. A
limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...
, Andelslaget Torp flyplass, was established on 24 October 1958. In addition to the municipalities of Stokke and Sandar, several local companies and private individuals bought shares. The company changed its name to AS Torp Flyplass in 1959. The first civilian aircraft to land was a
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...
from Fred. Olsen Airtransport in 1958. The first scheduled flight was a Braathens SAFE
Fokker F27 The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...
on 13 October, a route that flew daily from Oslo along the South Coast to
Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
. The construction was completed on 15 September 1959 and the airport was officially opened on 5 October. On 16 October, both
Oslo Airport, Fornebu 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 ...
and
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen Oslo Airport () , alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is an international airport serving Oslo, the capital and most populous city of Norway. The airport is the second largest in Scandinavia and the Nord ...
were closed due to fog, and eight scheduled aircraft were rerouted to Sandefjord. The name of the company was changed to AS Sandefjord Lufthavn in 1960, and the airport named Sandefjord Airport, Torp. Local patriots had expected Braathens SAFE to relocate their route from Jarlsberg to Torp after the opening of the airport, but this was not carried out. Braathens SAFE received concession in 1960 to fly from Oslo via Sandefjord and
Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...
to
Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...
in Denmark twice a week. The service was terminated after a single season due to
Scandinavian Airlines The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), commonly known as Scandinavian Airlines, is the national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is part of SAS Group and is headquartered in Solna, Sweden. Including its subsidiaries SAS Link and ...
taking over the route, and removing Sandefjord from the schedule.


Military activity

NATO decided in 1957 to build arsenals for nuclear weapons in all member countries, including Norway. Because the weapons were to be operated only by American personnel, this was in violation with Norwegian base policy. However, foreign personnel was allowed to be based in Norway during war, and therefore infrastructure would be allowed to be built in Norway to allow nuclear weapons to operate from Norway in such a scenario. Norway approved that seven air stations, including Torp, would have conventional ammunition storages that could be converted to nuclear weapons storage facilities in war, and allow the weapons to be transported into Norway following the declaration of war. The arsenals were built underground in bedrock with reinforced concrete. The arsenal caused massive local protests, and the municipal council made a declaration where it supported the concerns raised about the danger of an explosion. The protests were not taken consideration to, following a report from another division of the military that stated that the risk of an explosion was close to zero. Construction started in May 1961. The hangar that was built at Torp was used by Horten Flyfabrikk from 1956 to 1965. It had up to 270 employees and had previously been based at Jarlsberg. Marinens Hovedverft performed maintenance of a single aircraft in 1967, but terminated operations at Torp afterwards.


Slow growth

Vestfoldfly was established at Torp in 1961. It operated various charter services, including flights of newspapers. During the 1960s, Vestfoldfly never received a concession for a regular, scheduled flight from Sandefjord to Oslo. The reason was that the Skien-based Fjellfly held the concession for the routes from Oslo to Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Skien. Fjellfly never used its landing rights at Sandefjord, but nevertheless still hindered Vestfoldfly from starting a competing route. The municipalities of Sandefjord and Sandar merged in 1968, giving the Sandefjord a 93.11 percent ownership in the airport. During the entire 1960s, the airport company lost money. Vestfoldfly split in two in the late 1960s, creating an aviation school which remained in operation until 1999. The other activity was renamed Norsk Flytjeneste. In 1969, Norsk Flytjeneste and Jotun, a large Sandefjord-based industrial company, established Penguin Air Service, where Norsk Flytjeneste owned 25 percent of the shares. Penguin Air Service company bought a six-seat
Piper PA-31 Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of twin-engined low-wing tricycle gear utility aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for small cargo and feeder airlines, and as a corporate aircraft. Production ran from 1967 to 1984. It was licen ...
and started charter services for Jotun. In 1975, Bugge Supplyship also joined the joint venture and a second aircraft was bought. Most of the traffic was for the oil industry to
Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
. Nordic Air was established in 1970 and commenced cargo charter services out of Torp. They remained in service until 1973. Nor-Fly started operating from Sandefjord in 1974. The airline at first had a Douglas DC-3, and later four
Convair 440 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inroa ...
. The company had been established in 1952, and started flights from Sandefjord to serve commuters and business travelers to
Western Norway Western Norway (; ) is the Regions of Norway, region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the Counties of Norway, counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative fu ...
and the oil industry. The airline applied concessions for scheduled services, but these were rejected by the government. The airline was sold to
Partnair Partnair A/S was a Norwegian charter airline which operated from 1971 to 1989. During the later 1980s it was Norway's fifth-largest airline by revenue, operating a fleet of three Convair CV-580 and six Beechcraft Super King Air. The airline was ...
in 1985. By the 1970s, the airport company was still losing money, and in 1978 the airport had 3,000 passengers. The following year, the airport had 7,800 passengers, but this fell to 5,400 in 1982. By the 1980s, Norsk Air had up to four daily round to
Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
. From 12 January 1984 the airline was permitted to fly these as scheduled flights. Services to
Bergen Airport, Flesland Bergen Airport (; ), alternatively Bergen Flesland Airport or simply Flesland Airport, is an international airport located at Flesland in the city and municipality of Bergen, Vestland, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport i ...
started on 10 July. Soon there were four daily round trips to both cities, supplemented by charter trips operated by Penguin. Busy Bee started flights from Torp on 26 March 1984. It operated a single daily round trip from Sandefjord via Stavanger and
Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...
to
Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...
. The company never made a profit on the service, and terminated it in 1991. This followed an agreement that one
Fokker 50 The Fokker 50 is a turboprop-powered airliner manufactured and supported by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It was designed as an improved version of the successful Fokker F27 Friendship. The Fokker 60 is a stretched freighter version of t ...
aircraft was to be sold to Widerøe Norsk Air.Tjomsland: 102–105 Sandefjordbanken established a branch at the airport in 1985. Norsk Flytjeneste opened their first international route, to
Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup (, ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, as well as the wider Øresund Region, including Zealand and the southern Sweden, Swedish province of Scania. In 2023 it was the largest ai ...
on 30 July 1985. It soon changed its name to Norsk Air. With the introduction of
Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop 30-passenger regional airliner, commuter airliner designed and manufactured by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer. The EMB 120 began development during 1974. While initially conceived as ...
, Norsk Air established a route to Göteborg Landvetter Airport and to
London Stansted Airport Stansted Airport is an international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, northeast of Central London. As London's Airports of London, third-bu ...
. Neither were profitable, and were quickly terminated. When the airline's owners fell into financial distress and was bought by Widerøe in 1989. They renamed the company Widerøe Norsk Air. On 1 May 1996, Widerøe Norsk Air was merged with Widerøe and ceased to exist. After the merger, Widerøe phased out the Brasilias and replaced them with
de Havilland Canada Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was bought by Boeing in 1986, then by Bombardier in 1992, then by Longv ...
aircraft.


Expansion

The airport company made a NOK 2.1 million profit in 1985. During the mid-1980s, local commercial interests stated that they wished for more activity at Torp. This led to a public debate about the structure and need for investments in the airport. Three main strategies were proposed: the municipality would sell the airport to private investors; the municipality, Vestfold County Municipality and private investors would take over operation of the airport; or the airport would be taken over—fully or in part—by the state-owned
Civil Aviation Administration The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; ) is the civil aviation authority of the People's Republic of China, under the Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents. As the avi ...
. In February 1986, Vestfold Industrial Association established the company I/S Vestfold Næringsliv for Torp (VNFT, renamed Vestfold Flyplassinvest in 1997). This company, along with the county municipality and Stokke Municipality, bought part of AS Sandefjord Lufthavn on 28 April 1987 through a private placement of NOK 18 million. This gave Sandefjord an ownership of 42.0 percent, Vestold 35.5 percent, VNFT 13.5 percent and Stokke 9.0 percent. The new owners concluded that the airport needed a new control tower and a new terminal building. Construction was issued as a public tender in 1987, but the military decided to stop the plans. At this time, a debate about a new location for Oslo Airport had started. One of the proposals was to use Gardermoen, one of the two permanently used air stations in Eastern Norway. The air force was worried that they would have to abandon Gardermoen and relocate to Torp. It would be likely that this would give twenty or forty fighter jets stationed at Torp. The military expansion plans were not in line with the civilian ones. At the same time, the military felt that the existing terminal building was located too close to the arsenal, and that a new terminal had to relocate further away. The airport operators needed additional space. The old terminal had a capacity of 10,000 passengers; in 1984, it served 42,486, and in 1987, 100,907 passengers. By 1990, the issues related to Gardermoen had been resolved, and the military no longer had objections to expanding Torp.Tjomsland: 122–123 The private placement in 1987 allowed sufficient financing of a new terminal building. It was a pointed building that was planned to have the largest possible surface facing the tarmac—to allow the highest possible number of aircraft to park. It was constructed in such a way that it could be easily expanded in both directions. The new terminal was completed in 1991 and cost NOK 47 million. This also included a tarmac, and expansion of the taxiway and parking for 300 cars. There was also a need to upgrade the runway, which had had no major maintenance since construction. The end of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
had reduced the threat level and the military no longer saw a need to keep Torp at as high a level. However, the civilian airport operator needed the upgrades. They proposed that the airport operator advance the money, but this was rejected by the Defence Estates Agency. NATO decided that they had too many air stations, and was not willing to pay either. The airport operator still took the chance that the military would repay the advance, since it had done so in similar situation earlier. The runway was upgraded for NOK 10 million in 1989, but only NOK 1 million was refunded in 1993. The first charter flights from Torp were conducted in 1989. Saga started flights to Mallorca in 1992, as did Vingreiser. These are today part of MyTravel. Torp Café and Catering Service Partner in 1998. Following the Oslo Airport localization controversy in the 1980s and early 1990s, Parliament decided to locate the new main airport for Eastern Norway at Gardermoen, north of Oslo. This caused Buskerud, Vestfold and Telemark to grow further from the main airport, strengthening the regional position of Torp. By 1990, the airport was again losing money, with a loss of NOK 2.1 million, but the passenger numbers were up to 137,279. The debate about ownership woke again in 1992, this time with the Civil Aviation Administration considering if it should purchase part of or all of the airport. In 1992 the airport had 142,983 passengers, and the Civil Aviation Administration estimated that the airport would have 280,000 passengers following the closing of Fornebu in 1998. Local politicians did not want to sell the whole airport to the state, and the Civil Aviation Administration was not interested in purchasing part of the airport, so a sale did not go through. The air traffic employees in the control tower worked for the Civil Aviation Administration. In October 1991, they went on strike demanding that they receive better working conditions. However, the airport owner and the Civil Aviation Administration could not agree on who had the responsibility to build a new tower. Since 1987, the airport operator kept all landing fees, while the Civil Aviation Administration collected the navigation fees. The air force stated that it had no need for an upgrade to the airport, and was not willing to pay for further investments. The Ministry of Transport and Communications stated that the Civil Aviation Administration had previously decided that the state would not give subsidies to Sandefjord Airport, and that such investments must be carried by the operating company. Plans were made, but construction was stopped by the military in 1991.Tjomsland: 183–191 The next plan was launched in 1996, and parliament decided that the state would finance the new tower. However, when construction was to commence in 1998, the ministry decided that the tower instead should be financed by the airport operator. The ministry stated that this was because they did not want to use the limited state funds, that were entirely generated from user fees, to invest in airports that the state had chosen to not operate. It also stated that investments should be concentrated on security rather than increased capacity, and that the airport operating company had sufficient capital to finance the investments. Construction started in 1999 and was finished in 2001. The tower is identical to the one at Tromsø Airport and cost NOK 40 million.


Low-cost airport

The European aviation market was fully deregulated on 1 April 1997, and concession was no longer needed to fly internationally between countries within the
European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...
. The Irish airline
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...
wanted to use this to establish several routes from
London Stansted Airport Stansted Airport is an international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, northeast of Central London. As London's Airports of London, third-bu ...
, including Oslo. They intended to market Sandefjord Airport as Oslo South (later Oslo Torp). Ryanair and Torp had meetings to discuss the matter, but the airport instead wanted SAS and Braathens SAFE to establish routes. However, neither of these were interested. To create pressure against Ryanair in the negotiations, the airport operator contacted
EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airlin ...
, who also considered flying from London to Torp. In the end, Ryanair was the only airline that established itself following the deregulation. The first Ryanair flight, with a
Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...
, departed on 3 November 1997. The branding of Torp as Oslo caused a heated discussion between the Civil Aviation Administration, after the
International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...
in 1998 placed Sandefjord Airport under the area code for Oslo. Torp had 158,972 passengers in 1996 and the company lost NOK 1.3 million. In addition, a new private placement was made for NOK 3.5 million by the existing owners. The airport had 410,944 passengers in 1998 and made a profit of NOK 349,000. Sandefjord became the country's tenth-largest airport. The airport grew to 684,431 passengers in 1999 and produced a profit of NOK 23.4 started a restaurant in the terminal building in 1991, which allowed them to provide catering to the airlines. The catering was taken over by Select Service Partner AS. The terminal was expanded to fit 1 million passengers annually, and a new parking house was built. From 1998, Sandefjord Airport strengthened itself in two directions. The commercial interests of Telemark declared that they would focus on using the larger Sandefjord Airport instead of Skien Airport, Geiteryggen. At the same time, the moving of Oslo Airport from Fornebu to Gardermoen made Torp a more viable regional airport. By 2000 the airport had 758,951 passengers. The duty-free store was operated by Norsk Air, later by Widerøe, until 1998, when it was taken over by SAS Catering. It was taken over by Jotunfjell Partners in 2006. The sheriff's office in Sandefjord was responsible for border control at Torp until 1999. From then the airport has been a separate border control office, and by 2004 it had 23 employees. Since 2003 the custom's office for Vestfold is located at Torp, and the Norwegian Customs and Excise Authorities has about fifty employees stationed. Norwegian leisure airline ''ConTigo'' started charter flights using
Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter ...
on 3 November 1996, but terminated services after 22 December. Coast Air started flights from Sandefjord to Haugesund Airport, Karmøy twice daily from 26 October 1998. SAS started two daily flights to Copenhagen from 29 March 1999; these were taken over by Widerøe from 1 January 2002. Braathens, along with its partner
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),
, started operating from Sandefjord. KLM offered
Fokker 70 The Fokker 70 is a narrow-body, twin-engined, medium-range, turbofan regional airliner designed and produced by the now defunct Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It was developed during the early 1990s as a smaller version of the newly-dev ...
services to its hub at
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipal ...
three times daily from 1 May 1999 through their subsidiary
KLM Cityhopper KLM Cityhopper is the regional airline subsidiary of KLM, headquartered in Haarlemmermeer, North Holland, Netherlands. It is based at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. As a subsidiary of Air France–KLM, it is an affiliate of SkyTeam. The airli ...
. Braathens started operating services with Boeing 737s to Stavanger and Bergen on 9 May, but terminated the services from 1 November due to low yield. Sun Air of Scandinavia, a franchise of
British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...
, started flights from Torp to
Billund Airport Billund Airport () is an airport in Denmark. Located northeast of Billund, Denmark, Billund, it serves as one of the country's busiest Cargo airline, air cargo centres, as well as a charter airline destination. It is the List of the busiest a ...
on 1 November 1999, but this was terminated in March 2000. GuardAir started flights from Torp to
Ålesund Airport, Vigra Ålesund Airport (, ), or alternatively Ålesund Vigra Airport, is an international airport serving the Ålesund (town), town of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the Vigra (island), island of Vigra in Giske Municipali ...
, Kristiansand and
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
in 1998, as well as moving the company's head offices to Torp, but the airline went bankrupt in 2001.


Development since the 2000s

Swedish low-cost airline ''Goodjet'' started flights from Torp to
Beauvais–Tillé Airport Beauvais–Tillé Airport (; ) , branded as Paris-Beauvais Airport, is an international airport near the city of Beauvais in the commune of Tillé in France. In 2016, it was the tenth busiest airport in France, handling 3,997,856 passengers, a ...
near
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
on 15 July 2002 using
Airbus A320-200 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first membe ...
aircraft. The airline terminated all services on 6 December of the same year. Ryanair commenced flights to
Glasgow Prestwick Airport Glasgow Prestwick Airport (), commonly referred to as Prestwick Airport, is an international airport serving the west of Scotland, situated northeast of the town of Prestwick, and southwest of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the less busy of the two ...
on 4 April 2002. The same year, the airport expanded the international arrival section, and the airport passed one million annual passengers, and the airport is the seventh largest in the country. The profit had sunk to NOK 9.3 million. A new international terminal was opened in 2003. On 4 April, Ryanair started a service to
Stockholm Skavsta Airport Stockholm Skavsta Airport () , or Nyköping Airport is an international airport in Nyköping Municipality, Sweden, northwest of Nyköping and approximately southwest of Stockholm. It is served primarily by low-cost airlines and cargo operato ...
. The airport had 1,084,244 passengers in 2004, and a revenue of NOK 163.2 million. A survey conducted in 2004 showed that 64 percent of the passengers at Torp were tourist rather than business travelers, about twice the level of other airports. The same year, both Widerøe and Ryanair had 450,000 passengers, while KLM had 80,000. The largest destination was London with 250,000 passengers, followed by Copenhagen and Frankfurt with 120,000. During the planning of high-speed upgrade of the line, plans called to move the line to create a station integrated in the airport terminal, as had been done with Oslo Airport Station and Trondheim Airport Station. However, as the construction of a new Vestfold Line was put on hold, an intermediate solution was found to reopen Råstad Station, and offer a shuttle bus to the airport. On 16 May 2007, Vestfold County Municipality announced that they would forward the investment costs of NOK 7 million for the new station, with a payback from the National Rail Administration by 2012. The latter would build, own and operate the station. The station opened on 21 January 2008, and the new platform is located on the east side of the tracks. The old station building, location in the west side, has been converted into a museum. During the first year, 80,000 passengers used the station, sufficient to make the NOK 4.5 million used by NSB on the shuttle bus profitable. As a decision was made to close Moss Airport, Rygge by 30 October 2016,
Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...
announced in July 2016 it would relocate several routes from Moss to Sandefjord by then.sb.no - Ryanair legger ned på Rygge og flytter åtte ruter til Torp
(Norwegian) 1 July 2016
On 10 January 2024, after almost 25 years of operations at the airport, the leadership of
KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),
announced that they would terminate the airlines' route to
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, effective from 31 March 2024. According to KLM, the decision was made due to the coming slot restrictions at
Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport (, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipal ...
, as well as that the ticket sales hadn't reached a satisfactory level as it had before the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. As the route was quite popular among the local population for its offering of connecting flights through KLM's wide network of destinations, the decision was met with severe criticism by civilians, businesses, as well as local and regional politicians.


Facilities


Overview

The runway runs due north–south (18/36). It is and in asphalt, except both ends that are in concrete. There is a taxiway on the far side of the terminal building. The airport is equipped with instrument landing system category 2 from both ends. The control tower services are operated by
Avinor Avinor AS is a state-owned aksjeselskap, limited company that operates most of the civil airports in Norway. The Norwegian state, via the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications, controls 100 percent of the share capital. Avinor wa ...
. The tarmac has eleven aircraft stands.
Deicing De-icing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only de-ice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or pr ...
is available. Widerøe Ground Handling is the only handling agent at the airport.


Maintenance

Widerøe has the largest maintenance facility at Torp, providing full maintenance for the airlines own fleet of Dash 8 series 100, 300, and 400 aircraft. Helifly provides maintenance for both aircraft and helicopters. Flyvedlikehold provides maintenance for both aircraft and helicopters, engines, and is a retailer of pilot accessories like headsets, helmets, and so on.


Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter services to and from Sandefjord:


Statistics


Ground transport


Rail

Sandefjord Airport Station is located on the
Vestfold Line The Vestfold Line () is a railway line which runs between Drammen and Eidanger in Norway. The line connects to the Drammen Line at the northern terminus at Drammen Station and continues as the Bratsberg Line past Skien Station. The line is excl ...
, about from the airport. It is served by regional trains that operate between
Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...
—via Oslo Airport and
Oslo Central Station Oslo Central Station (, abbreviated ) is the main railway station in Oslo, and the largest railway station within the entire Norwegian railway system. It connects with Jernbanetorget station, which is served by trams and the Oslo Metro. It's ...
—and
Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...
. There are hourly trains in each direction, supplemented by rush-hour trains. Travel time to Oslo is 1 hour 48 minutes, and to Oslo Airport it is 2 hours 23 minutes. A shuttle bus meets all trains during the opening hours of the airport, and a bus trip takes four minutes to the airport terminal. The shuttle bus leaves the airport ten minutes before each train's scheduled departure. The bus is operated by NSB and is included in the price of the train ticket. There are 42 bus departures each day.


Coach

Torp-Ekspressen is a coach service operated by Unibuss Ekspress to Oslo connecting with all Ryanair's and Wizz Air's flights. Travel time is 1 hour and 50 minutes. Telemarkekspressen, a NOR-WAY Bussekspress service operated by Telemark Bilruter, offers coach services to Telemark, including
Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...
,
Porsgrunn is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Porsgrunn (town), city ...
,
Ulefoss Ulefoss is the administrative centre of Nome Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The village is located along the northwest shore of the large lake Norsjø. The village occupies both sides of Ulefoss falls on the river Eidselva, just before ...
, and
Seljord Seljord is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Seljord. Other villages in the municipalit ...
. The Vy express service Sørlandsekspressen operates from a halt on the E18 (not from the airport terminal) to several cities along the South Coast to
Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...
. From
Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...
, the service Flybåten Express Østfold–Vestfold operates a coach on the Moss–Horten Ferry to Torp. This involves a change of coach in Tønsberg. During winter, there are occasional buses that connect to ski resorts in Gol,
Geilo Geilo () is a centre in the municipality of Hol, Norway, Hol in Buskerud, Buskerud county, Norway. Geilo is primarily a ski resort town, with around 2,500 inhabitants. It is situated in the valley of Hallingdal, 250 km from Oslo and 260  ...
and
Hemsedal Hemsedal is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Trøym ...
.


Car

Sandefjord Airport is located off the
European Route E18 European route E18 runs between Craigavon, County Armagh, Craigavon in Northern Ireland and Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Scotland, England, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It is about in length. Although the designation implies the ...
. Travel distance to Sandefjord is and to Oslo is . The distance to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen is , and to Moss Airport, Rygge is (via the Moss–Horten Ferry).


Trivia

* Torp is home of Norway's only flying
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...
. It is operated by '' Dakota Norway'', a non-profit organization, and tours around Vestfold County are available on some days during the summer season. The aircraft was built in 1943. It had its maiden flight on December 17, 1935, and was used as a passenger plane in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
from 1936. * Torp also houses a
North American Harvard The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...
training aircraft from
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The plane was utilized by the
Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) () is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximately 2,430 employees (officers, enlisted ...
until the 1950s. * '' Deadline Torp'' (2005), a two-part TV series based on the 1994 Torp hostage crisis, partially filmed at Torp. It was directed by Nils Gaup and written by
Jo Nesbø Jon "Jo" Nesbø (; born 29 March 1960) is a Norwegian novelist and musician. His books had sold over 50 million copies worldwide by 2021, making him the most successful Norwegian author to date. Siegel, Lee (5 May 2014).Pure Evil: Jo Nesbø and th ...
.


References


Bibliography

*


External links


Official website
{{Authority control Airports in Vestfold 1956 establishments in Norway Airports established in 1956 Royal Norwegian Air Force stations International airports in Norway