NORWAY. Copenhagen Airports and a Norwegian conglomerate, Orkla, plan to open a new airport south of Oslo, writes Danish business newspaper Borsen.
The new airport, to be called Rygge Lufthavn, will compete with Oslo Gardermoen airport, which is the base for SAS Scandinavian Airlines in Norway. “We have sought a concession from the Norwegian air authorities, and I expect that we will have that in place around August,” Rygge Lufthavn ceo Jan Robert Danielsen told the paper.
“After that, it will take about five months to build a terminal, so we should therefore have the first planes flying in Spring 2004.”
“We are currently negotiating with a number of the leading low price airline groups and I expect that we can reach one million passengers within three to four years. Longer term the potential is significantly higher, so of course, we will be competing with Gardermoen,” said Danielsen.
Copenhagen Airports will own around 36% of Rygge airport, which is sited on a former military airfield. Initial investment for the new terminal will be around DKK100 million (US$16 million).
