Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik is the only airport in the Agder region with scheduled commercial flights. It sits 16 kilometres northeast of Kristiansand city centre, acting as the primary aviation gateway for Southern Norway. While it started as a single wooden building just before the Second World War, it now operates as a regional hub connecting the southern coast to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo, and Bergen. For winter sports enthusiasts, it provides the most direct air access to the inland ski resorts of the Setesdal valley and the Telemark region.
History and development
The Norwegian government began building a network of land-based airports in the late 1930s to replace the older seaplane routes. Construction at the Kjevik site moved quickly, and the airport opened on 1 June 1939, the exact same day as Oslo Airport at Fornebu. A KLM Douglas DC-2 was the first aircraft to land on the new concrete runway, kicking off an international route that linked Oslo to Amsterdam via Kristiansand. The early setup was basic. The terminal was a wooden shed, and passengers bought food from a nearby residential house that doubled as a restaurant. A floating dock and slipway were also built to handle the seaplanes that still flew along the rugged Norwegian coast.
Civilian flights stopped abruptly on 9 April 1940 when German forces invaded Norway. The military seized Kjevik and turned it into a Luftwaffe airbase, using its coastal position to control the airspace over the Skagerrak strait. They expanded the runway and built new barracks. After the war ended in 1945, the airport returned to civilian use, though the Royal Norwegian Air Force kept a training centre on the grounds for decades. By the late 1970s, the original wartime buildings could no longer handle the passenger volume. A new 3,500-square-metre terminal opened in March 1979, costing 19 million Norwegian kroner. The old terminal became a cargo shed. Passenger numbers kept climbing through the 1980s and 1990s, leading to major expansions in 1994 and the 2010s to fit larger aircraft and heavier traffic. Today, the airport balances its historical roots with the demands of modern European air travel, processing over 800,000 passengers annually.Airport layout & geography
The airport is located in the Tveit district, bordered by the Topdalsfjorden to the south and surrounded by dense pine forests. The single 2,035-metre asphalt runway is aligned 03/21. It handles narrow-body jets like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, along with regional turboprops. Kristiansand keeps a tight footprint compared to larger Scandinavian hubs. The terminal is a single building – a setup that makes finding your way around simple. The coastal approach gives passengers a good look at the archipelago and the city harbour before landing. However, the surrounding terrain and the fjord make it impossible to extend the runway. Because of this, the airport cannot take wide-body long-haul aircraft. The layout also includes a separate eastern section, historically used by the military, which now handles general aviation and helicopters. The compact site means you hardly have to walk. The check-in desks are just a few steps from the drop-off zone outside. This kind of efficiency is typical of Norwegian regional airports, which are built to keep transit times short even when winter weather slows things down. The surrounding forests act as a natural noise buffer for the nearby residential areas, though strict noise abatement procedures dictate the flight paths over the fjord.Terminals & passenger flow
The terminal splits landside and airside operations across two levels. The ground floor covers check-in desks, automated baggage drops, and the arrivals hall. The arrivals area has two baggage carousels and a customs zone for international flights. After dropping their bags, passengers take the escalator or lift to the upper floor for security screening. The departure lounge runs the length of the upper floor. There are seven gates, numbered 1 through 7. The first three handle international flights and include passport control booths for non-Schengen routes. Gate 3 can switch to domestic flights when needed, at which point the airport calls it Gate 4. The remaining gates are strictly domestic. You will not find any jetbridges here. Passengers walk across the open apron to board their planes. This helps airlines turn aircraft around quickly, though it does mean walking outside in the cold and snow during winter. Aviator and SAS Ground Handling manage the baggage loading and aircraft pushback.Winter airlines & connectivity
The winter flight schedule heavily relies on connecting Southern Norway to major European hubs. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Norwegian Air Shuttle run most of the domestic flights, with several daily departures to Oslo Airport at Gardermoen. This route feeds connecting passengers into Kristiansand from the rest of the world and serves as a vital link for business travellers.
For international flights, KLM Cityhopper operates a daily service to Amsterdam Schiphol using Embraer regional jets. This is the main route for international skiers coming from the UK and mainland Europe, as it avoids a transit stop in Oslo. SAS also flies to Copenhagen, opening up the Star Alliance network. Widerøe flies regional turboprops up the western coast to Bergen and Trondheim. Low-cost carriers like Wizz Air sometimes run flights to Eastern Europe, but these depend on seasonal demand. The combination of legacy carriers and regional operators keeps traffic moving through the colder months.
Deadline: February 13th
Winner Announcement: February 14th
