Bodø Airport
Bodø Airport (IATA: BOO, ICAO: ENBO) is a main civilian airport in Bodø. It is located next to the military air force base Bodø Main Air Station, just south of the city centre, on the westernmost tip of the peninsula Bodø lies on. The airport has a single concrete, 2794 m x 45 m runway which runs in a roughly east-west direction.
Air force base
Main article: See Bodø Main Air Station
Postal flights to Bodø started in 1921, but an airstrip was first constructed in 1940. Before World War 2, the English forces wanted the airfield to provide support for convoys to and from Murmansk. The area was swampland, and the first makeshift runway consisted of wooden planks floating on the water. The runway was completed in May 1940, shortly before the Germans occupied the area.
The German forces started massive air raids against Bodø in order to destroy the ports and airport, but the airport was soon back in order. The German forces upgraded the runway to concrete and used the base to support troops between Trondheim and Narvik.
Construction of the modern air force base started in 1950 and completed in 1956.
Civilian airport
The civilian airport opened May 2 1952. It served 1,307,705 passengers in 2004. On September 29 2004 an asylum seeker, armed with an axe, attacked the pilot of a Kato Air flight from Narvik, causing the plane, a Dornier 228 to go into a dive. Fortunately the assailant was overpowered by passengers, including Odd Eriksen, now a member of parliament, and the plane made a safe landing at Bodø.
Airlines and destinations
- Norwegian Air Shuttle. Flights to Oslo.
- SAS Braathens. Flights to Oslo, Trondheim and Tromsø.
- Widerøe. Flights to Leknes, Svolvær, Harstad/Narvik, Sandnessjøen, Stokmarknes, Mosjøen and Mo i Rana.
- Kato Airline. Flights to Narvik and Røst.
- Helikopter Service. Helicopter flights to Værøy.
Norwegian Aviation Museum
The Norwegian Aviation Museum is located next to the airport in a propellor-shaped building. An aviation centre at the airport was approved by parliament on March 31 1992 and opened May 15 1994. The aviation museum was opened on January 1 1998, founded by the local city council of Bodø and county council of Nordland. The museum is a "national museum" and funded through the national budget.
The museum exhibits several military aircraft including a U-2, Gloster Gladiator and Supermarine Spitfire. There are also some civilian aircraft on display such as the De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter.