Moss Airport, Rygge was a minor international airport serving Moss, Oslo and Eastern Norway. It was located in Rygge in Moss Municipality, outside Moss and outside Oslo. It also served as a regional airport for Østfold county and owned and was operated by the private company Rygge Sivile Lufthavn AS.
Moss/Rygge shut down to all civilian traffic on 1 November 2016. The airport is however co-located with the still operational Rygge Air Force Base, operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force, which also owns the land and runway. The control tower services (air traffic control) are operated by Avinor.
The airport opened on 8 October 2007, but did not officially open until 14 February 2008, when regular scheduled services started. The airport has a capacity for 2 million passengers per year, but could not reach this because of a concession limit of 21,000 annual air movements. The airport handled 1,890,889 passengers in 2013. The airport used to be a major base for Ryanair from March 2010 until its closure to civilian traffic at the end of October 2016 and was also served, to a much lesser extent, by Norwegian Air Shuttle and a few charter operators. The airport has been closed to all civilian traffic since 1 November 2016 due to a proposal from its main commercial operator, Ryanair, to shut down its base at the airport on that date after a new Norwegian passenger tax was introduced.en.ryg.no – Oslo Rygge Airport closing business November 1st 2016 28 June 2016
There were plans to reopen the airport in 2021, but these never materialised.
In 2021 the airport was used as a COVID-19 test and vaccine center.
History Early years The first aerodrome at Rygge was built in 1942 and 1943, but was located about west from the current runway. The aerodrome was closed in 1945, but reopened in 1949 as a military aviation school, although the school only remained for two years. In 1952 it was decided that Rygge was to become a military air station which met NATO specifications. This included the expropriation of of land, costing NOK 12 million. The new Rygge Main Air Station was established on 15 September 1954, after investments of NOK 127 million. The old airport was closed and remained a camp until it was closed in 2003. Rygge Main Air Station hosted the 332 Squadron, and later the 336 Squadron and the 720 Squadron 330 Squadron. From 2003, the fighter jets were moved from Rygge to Bodø Main Air Station.
The airport during the 1990s On 8 October 1998, Oslo Airport, Gardermoen took over the role as the main airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from Oslo Airport, Fornebu. Several other locations, including Hurum, Hobøl and Ås, had been considered, all which were located closer to Oslo and the Oslofjord area. The choice of location was controversial, in part because Gardermoen would be located further than Fornebu from among other things Østfold and Follo. In 1998, a report was made by SCC Trafikon which concluded that by building a civilian section at Rygge Air Station, it would be possible to generate 130,000 passengers per year, of which 40,000 would be charter travels. This was a higher passenger potential than Torp. Several regional airlines, such as Teddy Air, Air Stord and Coast Air, all stated that they could be interested in routes from Rygge, while Scandinavian Airlines, Braathens and Widerøe stated that they were not interested in flying from the airport. The idea was initially supported by local parliamentarians, Østfold County Council and the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise. The latter stated that the most important air routes were those to Gardermoen and Torp, while the Trafikon report recommended routes to Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and Copenhagen.
In February 1999, Minister of Transport and Communications Dag Jostein Fjærvoll stated that he supported the opening of civilian traffic from Rygge. Estimates from then were for an investment of 80 million Norwegian krone for a capacity of 150,000 annual passengers. However, the plans allowed for further expansion to 500,000 annual passengers. In July, the operating company Rygge Sivile Lufthavn was established. Owners were Borregaard (46.7%), Østfold County Municipality (20%), M. Peterson & Søn (16.6%) and Capricorn Invest (16.6%). The share capital was initially NOK 3 million. Egil Ullebø was appointed the company's chair. According to the plans, the company would need NOK 50 million in share capital, and the Norwegian Civil Airport Administration was intended to own 34% of the airport.
Development since 2000
On 12 January 2000, Københavns Lufthavne, which operates among other things Copenhagen Airport, bought 33.3% of the shares in Rygge Sivile Lufthavn. The company stated that they had invited the Norwegian Civil Airport Administration to purchase part of the company, but that no decision had been made by the government agency. The company stated that they were therefore forced to invite a foreign airport operate to purchase part of the company to have sufficient competence in airport operations. In December, the Norwegian Civil Airport Administration stated that they were negative to the plans for civilian traffic at Rygge. The administration operates with the model that the large airports, in particular Gardermoen, make a profit, which is used to finance the deficits at smaller airports. The administration stated that establishing a civilian airport at Rygge would undermine the financial structure of Norwegian airports and would breach the political presumptions for constructing Gardermoen. If the administration was to be able to complete on price with Rygge, the state would have to give the necessary grants to cover the deficits at other airports. At the same time, Torp was required to pay their own air traffic control costs, which until then had been covered by the administration. In September 2001, the Norwegian Competition Authority supported the airport, stating that it would allow more competition on international flights from Norway, and could make it easier to establish domestic competition in the face of Scandinavian Airline's take-over of Braathens.
In June 2002, Norwegian Air Shuttle stated that they would start flights from Rygge, should the airport be built. At the same time, the military and the airport company were discussing where the optimal location for the terminal should be. Once decided, the Rygge Sivile Lufthavn hoped to send an application for a concession to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. In March 2003, Rygge Labour Party stated they were opposed to the civilian airport, because of the local noise concerns. In May, the airport company confirmed that Ryanair, which was using Torp, had shown interest in using Rygge. In June, the Rygge Sivile Lufthavn stated that had changed their strategy, and that they now were going to primarily target low-cost airlines. The airport hoped to initially establish routes to Copenhagen, Stockholm, London and Amsterdam, and that international destinations would be prioritized before domestic destinations. In February 2004, the Civil Aviation Authority stated that 51 issues needed to be resolved before civilian traffic would be permitted.
In a report published by the ministry in March 2004, it was estimated that the airport would have 700,000 to 800,000 passengers per year, making it the eighth largest in the country, and could have 1.3 million passengers by 2030. In a reply, the Federation of Norwegian Aviation Industries stated that they were opposed to establishing a new airport, and that there were sufficient airports in Eastern Norway. They also said that an airport outside Avinor (the new name for the Norwegian Civil Airport Administration) would result lower profits at Gardermoen, and thus higher fees for the rest of the airports. In addition, the airlines would have higher costs having to operate to additional airports in Eastern Norway. The project was also met with local protests. In particular, they were concerned about emission into the lake, Vansjø, or alternatively to a Ramsar site in Kurefjorden, and about the local noise pollution, with the airport being located close to Moss. Natur og Ungdom were also opposed to the airport, stating that it would increase the amount of air traffic and thus result in an increase in greenhouse gases.
Københavns Lufthavne sold its ownership in the company during 2004, because they were not satisfied with the progress. On 18 November 2004, the air force received the necessary concessions from the ministry to establish a civilian section. The concession contained a limit of 750,000 passengers per year, and had a duration of 10 years. It also required the airport to be open from 07h to 23h every day and permit general aviation. Negotiations between the air force and Rygge Sivile Lufthavn started in June 2005 to establish an agreement regarding operations and financing. In September, the air force and the company came to an agreement regarding the company's compensation to the military. The agreement was approved by the Ministry of Defence in January 2006. On 22 February, all permissions had been granted, and the company was able to take an investment decision. The agreements involved, in addition to a new terminal, upgrades to the runway, taxiway and navigational systems, which would be paid for by Rygge Sivile Lufthavn.
On 2 March, the Thon Group purchased 40% of the company. The remaining owners are the Orkla Group (40%), which at the time owned Borregaard, Østfold County Municipality (11%) and Østfold Energi (9%). On 12 June, activists from Natur og Ungdom chained themselves to the control tower in protest against the establishment of civilian aviation. The contract to build the terminal was awarded Skanska. In July, State Secretary Steinulf Tungesvik stated that if necessary, the ministry would use its right to set the prices at Rygge so it would not capture revenue from Gardermoen. At the same time, representatives from Torp, the Federation of Norwegian Aviation Industries and the Conservative Party stated that the agreement between the military and the operating company was illegal subsidies. In September, the Thon Group announced they would not build a planned tall hotel at the airport, as military regulations would not permit it.
In January 2007, the charter operators Star Tour, Apollo and MyTravel Airways announced that they would start operating charter flights from 1 October. The initial construction was for seven gates, with possibilities to expand to fourteen. The first phase cost NOK 700 million and included a terminal with a capacity for two million annual passengers, parking for 1650 cars and various travel facilities, such as duty-free stores, bank and restaurants. By April the airport still only had a single weekly charter route planned and the airport considered postponing. Prof. Frode Steen at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration said that the airlines were postponing to get a better negotiating position. On 7 September, the final agreements between Rygge Sivile Lufthavn and the military were signed.
The airport was opened on 5 October 2007. The first flight from the airport took place on 17 October to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. The operator later increased with three more charter destinations in early 2008. At the time of the first flight, the operator had sold 95% of the seats on their flights until the end of the year. 85% of the sales were to people living in Østfold. From that day, UniBuss started a coach service from Oslo in correspondence with all departures and arrivals at the airport.