Aviation has been a part of

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

society since the early twentieth century.

Early attempts

In the early days of

aviation the Norwegian enthusiasts lacked an engine and were therefore unable to perform real flights. The first engine powered aircraft was ordered during the world's first air show in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

and came to

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

in December 1909. It was purchased by

Wilhelm Henie Wilhelm Henie (7 September 1872 – 10 May 1937) was a Norwegian sportsman and furrier. He was track cycling World Champion in 1894, and competed at the European Speed Skating Championships in 1896. Henie was coach and manager for hi ...

and was a

Voisin Voisin (French for "neighbour") may refer to: Companies *Avions Voisin, the French automobile company :*Voisin Laboratoire, a car manufactured by Avions Voisin *Voisin (aircraft), the French aircraft manufacturer * Voisin, a Lyon-based chocolat ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

. The plane was however so damaged by a snowstorm that it would never fly. In 1910 engineer Einar Lilloe Gran constructed the first motorised aircraft in Norway. It had a wing span of 10 meters and cost to build. There were made several attempts to make the aircraft airborne, but without any significant results. 1925 Route Map of Scandinavia and the Baltic States

1925 Route Map of Scandinavia and the Baltic States

Norwegian aviator

Tryggve Gran Jens Tryggve Herman Gran (20 January 1888 – 8 January 1980) was a Norwegian aviator, polar explorer and author. He was the skiing expert on the 1910–13 Scott Antarctic Expedition and was the first person to fly across the North Sea from ...

(1889–1980) became a skilled pilot at

Louis Blériot Louis Charles Joseph Blériot ( , also , ; 1 July 1872 – 1 August 1936) was a French aviator, inventor, and engineer. He developed the first practical headlamp for cars and established a profitable business manufacturing them, using much of th ...

's aviation school in Paris, and on 30 July 1914, became the first pilot in history to cross the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. He took off from

Cruden Bay Cruden Bay is a small village in Scotland, on the north coast of the Bay of Cruden in Aberdeenshire, north of Aberdeen. Just west of New Slains Castle, Slains Castle, Cruden Bay is said to have been the site of a Battle of Cruden Bay, battle in ...

, Scotland, and landed about 4½ hours later at Jæren, Norway, flying a Blériot XI-2

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

. The first confirmed flight was by the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

baron

Carl Cederström Friherre Carl Gustav Alexander Cederström (5 March 1867 – 29 June 1918) was a pioneering Swedish aviator, known as "the flying Baron". Biography He was born on 5 March 1867 to Anders Cederström and Maria Cecilia Wennerström in Södertä ...

on 14 October 1910. A 23-minute flight over Oslo with a top speed of 52 knots. The first motorized flight was made by

Hans Dons Hans Fleischer Dons (13 June 1882 – 28 October 1940) was a Royal Norwegian Navy officer. He is most associated with the first manned flight in Norway. Biography Dons was born in Øvre Eiker, Norway. He was the son of Johannes Albrecht Dons ...

in the

HNoMS Start The Taube was first constructed in 1909-1910 by Austrian Igo Etrich and later developed into a two-seater military aircraft in 1912. Many Taubes were built under licence by a wide array of manufacturers but most were produced by the Rumpler Flugze ...

on 1 June 1912 from Horten to Øra close to Fredrikstad.

Einar Sem-Jacobsen Einar Sem-Jacobsen (3 August 1878 – 15 October 1936) was a Norwegian military officer, engineer and aviation pioneer. Einar Olaf Sem-Jacobsen was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He graduated in 1896 from the Norwegian Military Academy ...

entered the first flight in a military mission at Elverum 1 September 1912 with Ganger Rolf, one of two Farman Longhorn that initiated the Army Air Forces the same year. Ganger Rolf and Njaal were both built in France and based at

Kjeller airport Kjeller Airport ( no, Kjeller flyplass; ) is a military and general aviation airport located in Kjeller in Skedsmo in Viken county, Norway. Situated in the outskirts of Lillestrøm, it is east northeast of Oslo, making it the airport located th ...

- Norway oldest and one of the world oldest aerodromes.

and

Norwegian military airpower Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language Norwegian ...

celebrated in 2012 100 years of flying in Norway with successful airshows at

Kjevik Kristiansand Airport ( no, Kristiansand lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving Kristiansand Municipality in Agder county, Norway. The airport is located in the district of Tveit in the Oddernes borough, about by road and by air from t ...

(Kristiansand),

Sola Sola is a municipality and a Seaside resort in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Solakrossen. Other villages include Tananger, Hålandsm ...

(

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

Andøya Andøya is the northernmost island in the Vesterålen archipelago, situated about inside the Arctic circle. Andøya is located in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The main population centres on the island include the villages of ...

and the main impressive event in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

1 September - along with several smaller events.

Organized aviation

The public agency of civil aviation in Norway is

Avinor Avinor AS is a state-owned limited company that operates most of the civil airports in Norway. The Norwegian state, via the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications, controls 100 percent of the share capital. Avinor was created on 1 ...

. It was organized as a directorate from 1947, but this was preceded by an office organized under the

Norwegian Ministry of Defence The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Defence ( no, Det kgl. Forsvarsdepartement) is a Norwegian government ministry in charge of the formation and implementation of national security and defence policy, and for the overall management and control of th ...

, created in 1920.

Widerøe Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 40 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, and 3 Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, serves over 40 d ...

(Widerøe's Flyveselskap) is among the older existing aviation companies in Norway, established in 1934. It had its roots in two smaller companies that were active in the early 1930s. Pioneers during this time include

Viggo Widerøe Viggo Widerøe (13 August 1904 – 8 January 2002) was a Norwegian aviator and entrepreneur. He founded Widerøe's Flyveselskap, Norway's third largest airline, in 1934. The airline is still in operation today. Personal life Viggo Widerøe was b ...

, Halvor Bjørneby, Helge Skappel, Leiv Brun, Ditlef Smith and Erik Engnæs. Both

Scandinavian Airlines System Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...

and

Braathens Braathens ASA, until 1997 Braathens South American & Far East Airtransport A/S and trading as Braathens SAFE, was a Norwegian airline which operated from 1946 until it merged with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) in 2004 to become SAS Braathens. ...

were established in 1946. Braathens no longer exists, having been merged with SAS as

SAS Braathens SAS Braathens was the name of Norway's largest airline, created by a merger between Scandinavian Airlines' Norwegian division and Braathens in 2004. On June 1, 2007, the airline was integrated into mainline SAS, and changed its name to SAS Scandi ...

. A newer, large company is

Norwegian Air Shuttle Norwegian Air Shuttle Aksjeselskap, ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norway, Norwegian Low-cost carrier, low-cost airline and Norway's largest airline. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe behind Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair, the ...

Current

The main airport in Norway is

Oslo Airport, Gardermoen Oslo Airport ( no, Oslo lufthavn; ), alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is the international airport serving Oslo, Norway, the capital and most populous city in the country. A hub for Flyr, Norse Atlan ...

. It replaced

Oslo Airport, Fornebu Oslo Airport, Fornebu ( no, Oslo lufthavn, Fornebu), was the primary international airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and the area has since been redevelo ...

, which was main airport from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. The longest domestic non-stop flight is

Scandinavian Airlines Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...

Longyearbyen Longyearbyen (, locally �lɔ̀ŋjɑrˌbyːən "The Longyear Town") is the world's northernmost settlement with a population greater than 1,000 and the largest inhabited area of Svalbard, Norway. It stretches along the foot of the left bank ...

service, well over 2000 kilometres.

References

External links

Royal Norwegian Air Force historyNorwegian Aviation Museum
{{World topic, Aviation in, title=

Aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

around the World, noredlinks=yes