Gressholmen Airport
| Gressholmen | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| IATA: none – ICAO: none | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Deutsche Luft Hansa, Det Norske Luftfartsselskap | ||
| Serves | Oslo | ||
| Location | Gressholmen, Norway | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 0 ft / 0 m | ||
| Coordinates | 59°53′02″N 010°43′00″E / 59.88389°N 10.71667°E | ||
| No longer operational. Seaplanes only, no runway | |||
Gressholmen Airport was the main airport serving Oslo, Norway from 1927 to 1939, until the construction of Fornebu Airport. The airport was on the islet of Gressholmen, and was only for seaplanes. The landing ramp and the hangars are still intact, and are used for storage of pleasure boats.
The airport was served until 1934 by Deutsche Luft Hansa, with routes initially via Gothenburg and Copenhagen to Stettin, later Lübeck and Travemünde using Dornier Do J "Wal" and "Superwal", Rohrbach Ro V Rocco and from 1934 by Junkers Ju-52/3m-See seaplanes. Passengers were ferried by motor boat from the city's largest railway station, Oslo East Station.
In 1935, the newly formed Norwegian airline, Det Norske Luftfartsselskap, with Thomas Olsen (of Fred Olsen & co) as Chairman and Terje Rabben as Director of Gressholmen Airport took over the concession, operating Junkers Ju-52 from the airport. Bernt Balchen,later war hero, was a pilot for DNL. They also obtained the license to deliver mail from the Norwegian Post Office. There were plans of starting transatlantic flights in cooperation with Pan Am, but services never commenced despite DNL purchasing a Sikorsky S-43 amphibious aircraft for this purpose. When the war broke out in 1940 some of the Junker hydroplanes were scuttled in the fjord, much to the dislike of the German Luftwaffe, following which Rabben, Balchen and other employees became targets for the German authorities. DNL was closed down from 1940 to 1946, and in 1948 became one of the three founding companies of Norwegian Air Lines later Scandinavian Airlines Systems.
The Norwegian term luftbuss, for air bus, was coined for the airline connection.
Gressholmen was not the first seaplane airport of Oslo. Neighboring island Lindøya was used as the base for the Det Norske Luftfartrederi routes in 1920, and Bestumkilen for the A/S Aero operations, also in 1920.
See also
- List of the largest airports in the Nordic countries
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gressholmen Airport. |
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