Bergen Airport, Flesland

Bergen Airport, Flesland
Bergen lufthavn, Flesland
IATA: BGOICAO: ENBR
BGO
Location of airport in Hordaland
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Avinor
Serves Bergen, Norway
Location Flesland, Bergen
Hub for
Elevation AMSL 165 ft / 50 m
Website Official website
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
17/35 2,990 9,810 Asphalt/concrete
Statistics (2010)
Passengers 5,296,325
Aircraft movements 97,000
Source: Norwegian AIP at Eurocontrol[1]

Bergen Airport, Flesland (Norwegian: Bergen lufthavn, Flesland, also called Flesland Air Station) (IATA: BGOICAO: ENBR) is an international airport located 6.5 NM (12.0 km; 7.5 mi) southwest of Bergen, Norway.[1] Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport in Norway, with 5,296,325 passengers in 2010. Flesland is operated by the state-owned Avinor. Previously the Norwegian Air Force has had operations at this airport.

Seven airlines offer domestic flights to 16 destinations, while 16 airlines offer international flights to 37 destinations. Flesland serves as a focus city for Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavian Airlines, Widerøe and Bergen Air Transport. Part of the traffic is generated from regional services from Sogn og Fjordane, operated by Widerøe and Danish Air Transport. The old terminal has been converted to a heliport, which primarily serves oil platforms in the North Sea. The most important services is to Oslo, which is served by up to 35 daily aircraft, making it the seventh-busiest in Europe.[2] Bergen Airport, Flesland has been voted as Europe's best airport and the world's 6th best airport by the British travel magazine Wanderlust Travel Awards.[3][4][5]

Contents

History

The first steps towards an airport at Flesland were taken in 1937 when parts of the farm Flesland were expropriated by the City. In 1952 the authorities decided to build an airport there, and in 1955 it was finished with a runway at 2,999 m (9,839 ft). The original airport was primarily financed by NATO. A new terminal opened in 1988 and a new tower in 1991.

Future plans

Avinor has decided to use 461 million NOK to upgrade the airport, with among other things extension of the international terminal, better aircraft parking, change to the taxiways, new operational buildings, deicing platform, ground radar, secondary radar and runway center lights.

Terminal

The current terminal was designed by the local architect Halfdan Grieg and was opened in 1988. The same architect also designed the old terminal. The terminal has 11 gates with jetbridges, numbered 21-32 (gate 30 is for airplanes on the apron). The terminal is built so that opening and closing doors can convert gates between domestic and international traffic. However, the gates are generally divided into a domestic and international area, although the boundary can change according to needs.

Gate 21 is at the southeast end of the terminal, the remaining gates are then numbered clockwise around the terminal, finishing with gate 32 at the northeast end.

Gate 24 is the only gate which can serve class E (i.e. wingspan of 52–65 m (171–213 ft)) aircraft such as the Airbus A340 or Boeing 747.

In addition to the parking spaces with jetbridges, there are 11 parking spots for aircraft on the apron.[6]

All passengers travelling on international flight must pass through the duty free shop in order to get to their flight. There is a possibility for some passengers (for example, those allergic to perfume) to ask security to use a narrow corridor which bypasses the shop. Nonetheless, the layout has been criticized by teetotalist organizations. The airport's response is that the layout was needed due to the terminal's small size.[7] The shop has also been criticized for informing passengers who purchase less than their permitted tax-free quota of alcohol that they are allowed to purchase more. The Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs indicated that this may violate the ban on alcohol advertising.[8]

Helicopter terminal

The old airline terminal built in 1955, located 250 m (820 ft) north of the airline terminal, is still used for helicopter traffic, mainly to the North Sea. There were 230,000 helicopter passengers in 2007. There are in all ten parking spots for helicopters, of which seven are used daily for embarkation and disembarkation, one is used to bring maritime pilots out to ships, while two are used for maintenance.

In addition to housing the helicopter terminal, the airport accommodates the airport's administration offices. Avinor noted that the old building is somewhat dilapidated with poor ventilation and some leaks.[6]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations
Air Europa Charter: Palma de Mallorca
airBaltic Riga
Air Berlin Charter: Berlin-Tegel, Düsseldorf, Munich
Atlantic Airways Summer: Sørvágur (Faroe Islands)
Bergen Air Transport Notodden
BH Air Charter: Burgas
bmi London-Heathrow
Cimber Sterling Billund
Danish Air Transport Florø, Moss [begins 9 January], Skien
Finnair Seasonal: Helsinki, Stockholm-Arlanda
Flybe operated by Loganair Seasonal: Inverness [begins 16 May 2012], Kirkwall, Sumburgh
Icelandair Reykjavík-Keflavík1
KLM Amsterdam
Lufthansa Berlin-Brandenburg [begins 6 June 2012][9]
Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine Frankfurt, Munich
Lufthansa Regional operated by Eurowings Seasonal: Hamburg
Norwegian Air Shuttle Ålesund, Alicante, Antalya, Barcelona, Berlin-Schönefeld, Chania, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, Edinburgh [begins 28 March 2012], Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Kraków, Kristiansand, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, London-Gatwick, Málaga, Murcia, Nice, Oslo-Gardermoen, Paris-Orly, Prague, Rome-Fiumicino, Salzburg, Stavanger, Stockholm-Arlanda, Trondheim, Warsaw
Scandinavian Airlines Ålesund, Alicante, Burgas, Copenhagen, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, London-Gatwick, Madrid, Manchester [begins 6 January], Nice, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stavanger, Stockholm-Arlanda, Trondheim
Seasonal: Barcelona [begins 28 June 2012], Malaga [begins 23 June 2012], Palma de Mallorca [begins 29 June 2012], Split [begins 25 June 2012],
Skyways Express Gothenburg-Landvetter, Stockholm-Arlanda
Spanair Charter: Palma de Mallorca
Widerøe Aberdeen, Bodø, Brønnøysund, Edinburgh, Førde, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Kristiansund, Molde, Ørsta/Volda, Sandane, Sandefjord, Skien, Sogndal, Stavanger, Tromsø
Wizz Air Gdańsk, Vilnius [begins 27 May 2012]
Notes

^1 Flights are routed Keflavik - Bergen - Stavanger or Trondheim - Keflavik.

Charter

There is a wide range of charter flights operated to and from Bergen Airport, most of them to the Mediterranean. Carriers include Air Europa, Atlasjet, BH Air, Japan Airlines, Pegasus Airlines, Spanair, Sunexpress and TUIfly Nordic.

Heliport

CHC Helikopter Service and Norsk Helikopter operate helicopter flights from Bergen heliport.

Traffic statistics

Year Passengers Growth
2010 5,296,325 + 8,9 %
2009 4,862,869 - 3,5 %
2008 5,037,451 + 3,8 %
2007 4,852,740 + 5,9 %
2006 4,358,038 + 12,8 %
2005 3,863,198

Busiest domestic passenger air routes

Destination Passengers (2007)[10] Flights every week
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen 1,632,000 172
Stavanger Airport, Sola 1,097,000 85
Trondheim Airport, Værnes 380,000 54
Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik 128,000 38
Sandefjord Airport, Torp 125,000 39

Ground transport

The Bergen Light Rail is proposed to eventually run to the airport, but this extension is not part of the original line under construction.

The name

The airport is named after the old farm Flesland, and the Norse form of the name was probably Flesjaland. The first element is the genitive plural of fles f 'skerry, sunken rock', the last element is land n 'land, farm'.

References

External links