Arendal Airport, Gullknapp

Historie

Arendal Airport, Gullknapp is a general aviation airport situated at Blakstadheia in Froland, Norway. It consists of a single 1,120-meter (3,650 ft) asphalt runway aligned 05/23. The airport is located about 15km from the town center of Arendal.Plans for an airport in Aust-Agder were first proposed in the 1930s at Løddesøl. The airport operating company was founded in 1984 and construction on the original 500m runway commenced in 1987 and was completed in 1992. It was paved in 1996, when an operating permission was granted. The runway was extended to 1,120 meters (3650 ft) in 2006 and in 2008 a majority of the shares were bought by Arendals Fossekompani. This spurred work on further expansions in order to compete with Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik. Concession for scheduled services was issued in 2014.HistoryLøddesøl proposalProposals for an airport in the vicinity of Arendal were first launched in the late 1930s. Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik opened on 1 June 1939 as Norway's third land airport. It has since been closest airport to Arendal with scheduled flights.During the 1950s the Royal Norwegian Air Force examined the possibilities of building an emergency aerodrome in Aust-Agder. They settled for Løddesøl, about 10km north of Arendal. The ground was bought and investments in a road and a water line commenced, but none of the work was finalized. Braathens SAFE resumed the plans in April 1956, when they announced that they planned to fly to Arendal as an intermediate stop on their service from Oslo Airport, Fornebu to Stavanger Airport, Sola. Ludvig G. Braathen stated that he hoped that an airport could be built quickly, citing the fast completion of Notodden Airport, Tuven. The airline stated the need for a runway of between 900and, estimated to cost seven to eight hundred thousand Norwegian krone (NOK).