Bodø Airport

Bodø Airport Bodø lufthavn
IATA: BOO – ICAO: ENBO BOO Location of airport in Nordland
Summary
Airport type		Military / Public
Operator		Avinor
Serves		Bodø, Norway
Location		Bodø
Elevation AMSL		13 m / 42 ft
Coordinates		67°16′09″N 14°21′55″E / 67.26917°N 14.36528°E / 67.26917; 14.36528
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
07/25	3,394	11,136	Concrete
Statistics (2010[1])
Passengers			1,611,869
Cargo (tonnes)			2,058
Air movements			42,420

Bodø Airport (Norwegian: Bodø lufthavn) (IATA: BOO, ICAO: ENBO) is civil airport in Bodø, Norway. Located just south of the city centre, on the westernmost tip of the peninsula Bodø lies on, it shares facilities with the military air force base Bodø Main Air Station. The airport has a single concrete, 3,394 by 45 metres (11,135 by 148 ft) runway which runs in a roughly east-west direction. In addition to jet operations to major domestic destinations, the airport serves as a hub for regional airline flights to Helgeland, Lofoten and Vesterålen.

History

Postal flights to Bodø started in 1921, and before 1940 Bodø was served with sea planes from Widerøe.

The first runway at Bodø Airport was built during World War II by British troops, after Germany had invaded Southern Norway. On May 26, 1940 three Royal Air Force Gloster Gladiators landed and made the first airborne defence for the city. The area was swampland, and the first makeshift runway consisted of wooden planks floating on the water. Soon the superior Luftwaffe seized control over the airport, and held it for the duration of the war, among other things upgrading the runway to concrete.

Not much was done with the airport until after the Korean War started in 1950. The West were afraid of a Soviet attack on Western Europe, so a new military base was constructed at a new location southwest of the old one. Originally planned to be finished in 1951, the new airport did not become fully operational until 1956, though the civilian terminal opened in 1952. From then on fighter jets have been stationed at Bodø. In 1988, NATO injected vast amounts of money to enable the airfield to handle large air forces in the event of an emergency.

The airport was used during the testing of Concorde in June 1975.

Air force base

Main article: Bodø Main Air Station

The Bodø Main Air Station, situated adjacent to the airport, is the largest air station in Norway operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force. This air station is the home of the 331st and the 332nd Squadrons equipped with General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons in addition to a detachment from the 330th Squadron of Westland Sea King helicopters.

Airlines and destinations

Widerøe de Havilland Canada Dash-8 103 at Bodø Airport

Terminal exterior. Bodø Airport is a 'silent' airport: no announcements are made

Departures timetable

Airlines	Destinations
Hamburg Airways	Seasonal: Hannover
Lufttransport	Værøy
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Oslo-Gardermoen, Trondheim, Tromsø, Bardufoss, Las Palmas
Scandinavian Airlines	Oslo-Gardermoen, Trondheim, Tromsø
Widerøe	Andenes, Bergen, Brønnøysund, Harstad/Evenes, Leknes, Mo i Rana, Mosjøen, Narvik-Framnes, Røst, Sandefjord, Sandnessjøen, Stokmarknes, Svolvær-Helle[2]
Other	Seasonal: Antalya, Chania, Friedrichshafen, Las Palmas, Madrid, Paderborn-Lippstadt, Palma, Vienna

Norsk Luftfartsmuseum - Norwegian Aviation Museum

The Norwegian Aviation Museum is located next to the airport in a propeller-shaped building. An aviation centre at the airport was approved by parliament on March 31, 1992 and opened May 15, 1994. The military part - Luftfartsmuseet (Air Force Museum) was opened in May 1995. The Norwegian Aviation Museum was formed on January 1, 1998, founded by the government, 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 Lockheed U-2, Gloster Gladiator and Supermarine Spitfire. There are also some civilian aircraft on display such as the de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter, Junkers Ju 52/3m on floats, a Fokker F.28-1000 Fellowship.

Accidents and incidents

• Lockheed U-2 spyplanes were stationed at Bodø in 1958. On May 1, 1960 a U-2 piloted by Gary Powers was headed for Bodø from Pakistan but was shot down, causing the U-2 Crisis of 1960.
• On 4 December 2003, a Dornier 228 of Kato Airline operating as Flight 603 was struck by lightning, causing a fracture to the control rod that operated the elevator. The aircraft subsequently landed heavily just short of the runway at Bodø and was written off. Both crewmembers sustained serious injuries while both passengers sustained slight injuries.^[3]
• On September 29, 2004 an asylum seeker armed with an axe attacked the pilot of a Kato Airline flight from Narvik, causing the aircraft, a Dornier 228, to go into a dive. The assailant was overpowered by passengers, including Odd Eriksen, later a member of the government (Minister of Commerce), and the aircraft made a safe landing at Bodø.

References

1. ^ Avinor (2010). "Månedsrapport desember 2010" (in Norwegian). http://www.avinor.no/tridionimages/2010_Trafikkstatistikk_12_uten%20koblinger_tcm181-125235.xls. Retrieved january 2011. 
2. ^ wideroe.no
3. ^ "Report on the aircraft accident at Bodø Airport on 4 December 2003 involving Dornier Do 228-202 LN-HTA, operated by Kato Airline AS". Accident Investigation Board Norway. http://www.aibn.no/items/2119/144/2934672358/LN-HTA%20engelsk.pdf. Retrieved 11 March 2008. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Avinor entry for Bodø Airport
• Avinor entry for Bodø Airport (Norwegian) (more detail)
• Airport information for ENBO at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.
• Norwegian Aviation Museum website
• Norwegian Air Force's page on Bodø Main Air Station (in Norwegian)