Sandefjord Airport, Torp (; ) is a minor international airport located northeast of Sandefjord and south of Oslo in Norway. The airport features a runway aligned 18/36. Torp partially serves as a regional airport for Vestfold and in part as a low-cost airport for Eastern Norway and the capital, Oslo. Widerøe have a base at Torp, serving both domestic and shorter international flights. It also sees scheduled flights by airBaltic, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Scandinavian Airlines, and Norwegian Air Shuttle. As of 2021, it was the second-largest airport in eastern Norway in terms of flights after Rygge shut down in 2016.
The airport was built largely with NATO funding as one of several bases to be used by the United States Air Force in case of war. Construction started in 1953 and the airport was opened on 2 July 1956. By then, the military interest in the airport had dwindled. Civilian flights commenced in 1958, and in 1960, a municipal airport company was established to run a civilian sector. Vestfoldfly started operations the following year, and through a series of name changes and acquisitions has become the basis for Widerøe's operations at Torp. International services commenced in 1985 and Mediterranean charter services in 1992. The airport expanded in the 1960s and in 1997 became a Ryanair destination, which marketed it as an airport serving Oslo as Oslo Torp and Oslo South. The airport markets itself as TORP Sandefjord Airport ().
The main entry road from European route E18 traverses the beech tree forests of Fokserød Nature Preserve.
History
Establishment Following the end of the Second World War and Norway's subsequent membership in NATO, it became strategically important to build several new air stations in the country. This was based on a United States analysis from 1951, carried out by General Robert K. Taylor, which intended to station three wings, each of 75 aircraft, in Denmark and Norway. Each wing would have about 3,000 permanently stationed American personnel. Norwegian policy prohibited permanent stationing of foreign military personnel on Norwegian soil, but allowed the United States to build air stations that would be suitable for refueling before attacking targets within Eastern Europe. There were two main strategies that NATO intended to use that would require a new military air station in Southern Norway. The first was the "polar strategy", which involved NATO aircraft flying nuclear weapons into the Soviet Union. This would require refueling stations in Norway, but only about twenty permanently stationed personnel. The second was to station aircraft to allow a flanking maneuver if Soviet troops were to attack Central Europe.Tjomsland: 11–21
Negotiations among NATO, the United States and Norway were initiated on 27 March 1951. The United States wanted to own and operate the air stations themselves, and use the stations for preemptive strikes towards the Soviet Union. At the time, air stations were available for use at Sola, Gardermoen, Lista and Ørland, but more capacity would be needed. On 24 November, the United States proposed converting Tønsberg Airport, Jarlsberg into an air force station. NATO dedicated NOK 48 million to rebuild the airport. The issue was discussed by Parliament on 4 March 1952 along with several other proposals to build air stations or expand airports to meet NATO's needs, namely Gardermoen, Jarlsberg, Lista, Ørland, Bardufoss and Rygge. The legislature approved funding the program with NOK 92 million of the total NOK 277.6 million budget. In May 1952, Prime Minister Oscar Torp informed United States General Dwight D. Eisenhower that he intended to try to convince Parliament to change the Norwegian base policies to allow permanent stationing of foreign troops. This was not successful, and Parliament would not change the policy. Instead, the politicians hoped the American fighters based in Denmark would defend Norway.Tjomsland: 21–26
Closer investigations of Jarlsberg showed that the airport was not suitable for expansion. The airport had been expanded in 1950, receiving a runway. An air station for Republic F-84 Thunderjet fighter jets would require a runway, and due to surrounding hills this was not possible at Jarlsberg. Instead, the military looked at Langåker and Torp as possible locations. However, the military did note that Jarlsberg would be easier to defend, but that the defensibility was correlated to the rugged terrain that made expansion difficult. Torp was also preferred due to its close proximity to the European Route E18, and the Vestfold Line and Råstad Station. The choice of location was approved by NATO on 6 September 1952, and by the Cabinet of Norway on 12 September. It was unanimously passed by Parliament on 18 October, with only Torgeir Andreas Berge speaking up against the location. Berge, who lived within the approach area of the airport, was concerned about noise pollution affecting the local population.Tjomsland: 27–32
The government expropriated the necessary land in February 1953. This covered , of which was forest, was fields and was pasture. About half the area was in the municipality of Stokke, the rest in the former municipality of Sandar. Thirty-seven land-owners were affected, receiving a combined compensation NOK 3.75 million. The builder was the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency and the main contractor was Astrup & Aubert. Other major contractors were Lo-Wi-Co, who did most of the explosives, and Byggmester Thor Kandal jr., who built the buildings. A pumping station for fuel was built at the shore at Bogen, and a pipeline built to the air station. The fuel was transported to Bogen with small tank ships from Vølle and later Slagentangen. This system was built by the United States, and was in use until 1993. The runway and taxiway were built in concrete. Up to twenty people worked on the construction at any time.Tjomsland: 43–45 The official opening occurred on 2 July 1956, when two F-84s landed at 11:00.Tjomsland: 51
First civilian operation
The interest to use Torp as an air station dwindled during the 1950s. Norway did not need the station for regular stationing of aircraft, and the United States did not need it as long as Norway did not allow permanent stationing of foreign troops. In October 1956, the military stated that they did not mind if Torp also inaugurated a civilian sector. The municipalities established committee, and on 2 October 1957 the Ministry of Transport and Communications granted permission to establish a municipal civilian sector at Torp. At the time, Jarlsberg was still being used for scheduled services to Vestfold, and the plans to open Torp as a civilian airport met political resistance from Tønsberg. The civilian sector would cost NOK 900,000, including a terminal building, a control tower, small maintenance facilities and a tarmac. A limited company, Andelslaget Torp flyplass, was established on 24 October 1958. In addition to the municipalities of Stokke and Sandar, several local companies and private individuals bought shares. The company changed its name to AS Torp Flyplass in 1959.Tjomsland: 65–72
The first civilian aircraft to land was a Douglas DC-3 from Fred. Olsen Airtransport in 1958. The first scheduled flight was a Braathens SAFE Fokker F27 on 13 October, a route that flew daily from Oslo along the South Coast to Stavanger. The construction was completed on 15 September 1959 and the airport was officially opened on 5 October. On 16 October, both Oslo Airport, Fornebu and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen were closed due to fog, and eight scheduled aircraft were rerouted to Sandefjord. The name of the company was changed to AS Sandefjord Lufthavn in 1960, and the airport named Sandefjord Airport, Torp.Tjomsland: 77–78 Local patriots had expected Braathens SAFE to relocate their route from Jarlsberg to Torp after the opening of the airport, but this was not carried out. Braathens SAFE received concession in 1960 to fly from Oslo via Sandefjord and Kristiansand to Aalborg in Denmark twice a week. The service was terminated after a single season due to Scandinavian Airlines taking over the route, and removing Sandefjord from the schedule.Tjomsland: 83–85
Military activity NATO decided in 1957 to build arsenals for nuclear weapons in all member countries, including Norway. Because the weapons were to be operated only by American personnel, this was in violation with Norwegian base policy. However, foreign personnel was allowed to be based in Norway during war, and therefore infrastructure would be allowed to be built in Norway to allow nuclear weapons to operate from Norway in such a scenario. Norway approved that seven air stations, including Torp, would have conventional ammunition storages that could be converted to nuclear weapons storage facilities in war, and allow the weapons to be transported into Norway following the declaration of war. The arsenals were built underground in bedrock with reinforced concrete.Tjomsland: 53–56
The arsenal caused massive local protests, and the municipal council made a declaration where it supported the concerns raised about the danger of an explosion. The protests were not taken consideration to, following a report from another division of the military that stated that the risk of an explosion was close to zero. Construction started in May 1961.Tjomsland: 79–80 The hangar that was built at Torp was used by Horten Flyfabrikk from 1956 to 1965. It had up to 270 employees and had previously been based at Jarlsberg. Marinens Hovedverft performed maintenance of a single aircraft in 1967, but terminated operations at Torp afterwards.Tjomsland: 57–58
Slow growth Vestfoldfly was established at Torp in 1961. It operated various charter services, including flights of newspapers. During the 1960s, Vestfoldfly never received a concession for a regular, scheduled flight from Sandefjord to Oslo. The reason was that the Skien-based Fjellfly held the concession for the routes from Oslo to Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Skien. Fjellfly never used its landing rights at Sandefjord, but nevertheless still hindered Vestfoldfly from starting a competing route.Tjomsland: 87–93 The municipalities of Sandefjord and Sandar merged in 1968, giving the Sandefjord a 93.11 percent ownership in the airport. During the entire 1960s, the airport company lost money.Tjomsland: 92
Vestfoldfly split in two in the late 1960s, creating an aviation school which remained in operation until 1999. The other activity was renamed Norsk Flytjeneste. In 1969, Norsk Flytjeneste and Jotun, a large Sandefjord-based industrial company, established Penguin Air Service, where Norsk Flytjeneste owned 25 percent of the shares. Penguin Air Service company bought a six-seat Piper PA-31 Navajo and started charter services for Jotun. In 1975, Bugge Supplyship also joined the joint venture and a second aircraft was bought. Most of the traffic was for the oil industry to Stavanger.Tjomsland: 88–92
Nordic Air was established in 1970 and commenced cargo charter services out of Torp. They remained in service until 1973.Tjomsland: 261–262 Nor-Fly started operating from Sandefjord in 1974. The airline at first had a Douglas DC-3, and later four Convair 440. The company had been established in 1952, and started flights from Sandefjord to serve commuters and business travelers to Western Norway and the oil industry. The airline applied concessions for scheduled services, but these were rejected by the government. The airline was sold to Partnair in 1985. By the 1970s, the airport company was still losing money, and in 1978 the airport had 3,000 passengers. The following year, the airport had 7,800 passengers, but this fell to 5,400 in 1982.Tjomsland: 96–102