Kjeller Airport

Historie

Kjeller Airport is a military and general aviation airport located in Kjeller in Skedsmo, Norway. Situated in the outskirts of Lillestrøm, it is 9NM east northeast of Oslo, making it the airport located the closest to the capital. The airport has a single 1735m asphalt runway numbered 12–30, with a declared distance of 1357m. The airport is owned by the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organization, while the civilian operations is carried out by Kjeller Aero Senter. The main military activity is the Aerospace Industrial Maintenance Norway, the main maintenance facility for the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF).The airport became the first in Norway when it was established in September 1912 to serve the Norwegian Army Air Service. The break-out of World War I resulted in a major expansion of the air field, followed by military aircraft factory Kjeller Flyfabrikk moving to Kjeller in 1916. Gradual expansions took place in the following decades. The airport was occupied by the Luftwaffe on 10 April 1940, resulting in Junkers, Daimler-Benz, BMW and Brinker Eisenwerk establishing various maintenance facilities at the airport. After liberation in 1945, the RNoAF converted Kjeller to a maintenance base and placed the Air Force Logistics Command there from 1952. Runway expansions took place in 1951, 1959 and 1975.