Moss Airport, Rygge ( no, Moss lufthavn, Rygge; ) was an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

serving

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

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 ...

and

Eastern Norway Eastern Norway ( nb, Østlandet, nn, Austlandet) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Vestfold og Telemark, Viken, Oslo and Innlandet. Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region o ...

. It is located in

Rygge Rygge was a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. It was merged into Moss municipality on January 1, 2020. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rygge. Rygge was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see ...

, outside Moss and outside Oslo. It also served as a regional airport for

Østfold Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side o ...

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 Station Rygge Air Force Base ( no, Rygge flystasjon) is located in the municipalities of Rygge and Råde in Viken county, Norway. The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) operates various squadron and aircraft at the airbase, including AgustaWestland AW101 ...

, operated by the

Royal Norwegian Air Force The Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) ( no, Luftforsvaret, , The Air Defence) is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian Armed Forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peacetime establishment is approximatel ...

, which also owns the land and runway. The control tower services (

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

) are operated by

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 ...

. 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 Concession may refer to: General * Concession (contract) (sometimes called a concession agreement), a contractual right to carry on a certain kind of business or activity in an area, such as to explore or develop its natural resources or to opera ...

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 Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...

from March 2010 until October 2016 and was also served to a much lesser extent by

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 ...

and 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 are plans to reopen the airport for passenger traffic. There is interest from airlines, but aircraft delivery delays mean opening is planned for spring 2021 (as of spring 2020). In 2021 the airport was used as a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

specifications. This included the

expropriation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

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 Bodø Air Station (; no, Bodø hovedflystasjon) is a military air base of the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) located in the town of Bodø in Bodø Municipality, Nordland county, Norway. It is home to the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon ...

The airport during the 1990s

On 8 October 1998,

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 ...

took over the role as the main airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from

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 ...

. Several other locations, including

Hurum Hurum was a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. As of 1 January 2020 Hurum has merged with the municipalities of Røyken and Asker to form the new Asker Municipality located in the newly formed Viken county. The administrative centre of the ...

Hobøl Hobøl was a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Elvestad. Hobøl is situated about southeast of Oslo. The parish of ''Haabøl'' was established as a municipality on 1 Janu ...

and Ås, had been considered, all which were located closer to Oslo and the

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...

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 Teddy Air AS was a regional airline, based at Skien Airport, Geiteryggen, in Norway. Operating between 1989 and 2004, the company operated Britten-Norman Islander, Embraer 110 and Saab 340 aircraft. The company started by providing a scheduled ...

Air Stord Air Stord A/S was an airline which operated between 1990 and 1999. Based at Stord Airport, Sørstokken, it operated a fleet of Beechcraft Super King Air and later Dornier 328 aircraft. The airline was established as Nye Partnair A/S in January ...

and

Coast Air Coast Air AS was a regional airline based at Haugesund Airport, Karmøy in Norway. It was Norway's fourth largest airline and operated domestic services within Norway, in addition to international services. Routes were concentrated along the Wes ...

, all stated that they could be interested in routes from Rygge, while

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 ...

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. ...

and

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 ...

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 Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise ( no, Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon, NHO) is an employers' organisation in Norway with more than 30,000 members. It was founded in 1989 as a merger of the Federation of Norwegian Industries, the Norwegi ...

. 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 Dag Jostein Fjærvoll (20 January 1947 – 5 February 2021) was a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public polic ...

stated that he supported the opening of civilian traffic from Rygge. Estimates from then were for an investment of 80 million

Norwegian krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ''� ...

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 Borregaard is a Norwegian company, established in 1889 in the southeastern town of Sarpsborg in Østfold county. Its main products were traditionally pulp and paper. The company later started producing chemicals based on timber as a raw materi ...

(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 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 ...

was intended to own 34% of the airport.

Development since 2000

On 12 January 2000,

Københavns Lufthavne Københavns Lufthavne is a public limited company that operates two airports in Copenhagen, Denmark: Copenhagen Airport and Roskilde Airport. In addition, the company previously held a 49% stake in Newcastle International Airport and 10% of Aeropu ...

, which operates among other things

Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup ( da, Københavns Lufthavn, Kastrup, ; ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark, Zealand, the Øresund Region, and southern Sweden including Scania. It is the second largest airport in the Nordic coun ...

, 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

costs, which until then had been covered by the administration. In September 2001, the

Norwegian Competition Authority Norwegian Competition Authority ( no, Konkurransetilsynet) is Norway, Norwegian etat, Government agency responsible for managing the ''Competition Act'' of 2004, including regulations imposed through the European Economic Community. This includes ...

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,

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

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 airline A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

s. 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 A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...

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 Vansjø is a lake in the municipalities of Moss, Råde, Rygge, Våler in Østfold county, Norway. Vansjø is part of Moss watershed (''Mossevassdraget'') stretching from Østmarka. Vansjø has four inflow rivers. The lake is fed by the Hobø ...

, or alternatively to a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Natur og Ungdom Natur og Ungdom (NU) which translates Nature and Youth, also known in English as Young Friends of the Earth Norway, is a Norwegian youth environment protecting organisation. It is the only environmentalist youth organisation in Norway. 7,000 memb ...

were also opposed to the airport, stating that it would increase the amount of air traffic and thus result in an increase in

greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorbs and Emission (electromagnetic radiation), emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse ...

es. 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 General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

. 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 {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

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 Orkla ASA is a Norwegian conglomerate operating in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. At present, Orkla operates in the branded consumer goods, aluminium solutions and financial investment sectors. Orkla ASA is listed on the Os ...

(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 Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...

. 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 The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

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 MyTravel Group plc was a British, global travel group headquartered in Rochdale, England. It was founded in 1972 as Airtours Group. The group included two in-house airlines, MyTravel Airways UK and MyTravel Airways Scandinavia, and various t ...

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 A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, w ...

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 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 ...

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 Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auton ...

, 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 Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

service from

in correspondence with all departures and arrivals at the airport. The Civil Aviation Authority introduced a non-flight limitation on the airport from 23 to 07, out of consideration for the airport's neighbors. This was despite the municipal councils in Råde and Rygge supporting night flights. The decision was appealed, with the airport wanting to operate from 06:30 to 23:30, stating that they could lose half of Norwegian's departures. The ministry granted such a permit on 25 January 2008. This prompted a lawsuit from 150 households within the noise zone, who stated that people with similar noise pollution around Gardermoen had been granted NOK 225,000 in compensation each. Norwegian Air Shuttle established a base at Rygge on 14 February 2008, with a second aircraft being stationed at the airport from 13 March. From February to April, Norwegian Air Shuttle started international flights to

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

Palanga Palanga (; bat-smg, Palonga; pl, Połąga; german: Polangen) is a seaside resort town in western Lithuania, on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Palanga is the busiest summer resort in Lithuania and has sandy beaches (18 km, 11 miles long ...

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, with between two and four weekly services to each destination. In addition, the airline started two daily services to Bergen. Norwegian's services to Belgrade, Istanbul, Marrakech, Szczecin and Valencia were all terminated at Gardermoen the same time as they opened at Rygge. The airport stated that they had also been approached by Ryanair, who wanted to move the bulk of their services from Torp, but the airport stated that there was room for only one airline, and that they had prioritized Norwegian. The first Norwegian Air Shuttle plane took off at the 14 February 2008 heading for Budapest. The same day, the

Norwegian State Railways Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach se ...

started offering a shuttle bus service from Rygge Station on the Østfold Line to the airport. At the same time, Norwegian Business Aviation started offering

executive jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pub ...

s from Rygge. From March, Widerøe started two daily services from Rygge to Copenhagen, the hub for their owner, Scandinavian Airlines. Apollo started flights to

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

from 11 May. Star Tour started weekly charter flights to

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

and

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

during the first half of 2008. From 1 September, Widerøe terminated its Copenhagen route, while Norwegian terminated its London service. In October, Norwegian Air Shuttle introduced new international services to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. New domestic routes were introduced to Trondheim, Stavanger,

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

and

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 ...

. The airport stated that at the growth rate they were experiencing, they would reach their passenger ceiling in 2009, and would not have room for any other airlines than Norwegian. In November, the airport stated that they in 2008 would lose NOK 100 million, and that they needed between NOK 200 and 300 million in new share capital. However, neither Orkla nor Thon were willing to invest more in the airport unless the passenger ceiling was lifted. In a vote in the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

on 11 December, the ceiling was not lifted, with the proposal only receiving votes from the opposition. However, the ministry stated that they were going to consider the limitations in the concession. In January, the owners invested 50 million in the company. The airport had 450,000 passengers in 2008. In January, Rygge was, with 24,400 passengers, larger than Torp in terms of domestic traffic. In February, the Civil Aviation Authority recommended that the airport's ceiling be lifted, and this was made effective by the ministry on 1 July. Instead, the airport was limited to 15,000 air movements per year. The ministry stated that the rationale was that the calculations for the original concession were based on smaller aircraft, and that the passenger ceiling was based on an estimated 20,000 take-offs and landings. From January through April, the domestic services from Rygge had captured 6% of the market share from Eastern Norway. In October and November, Ryanair established itself at the airport, and started flights to Alicante, Barcelona,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and

. Norwegian stated that they were not worried about competition from Ryanair, and announced that they would continue with flights to the Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and domestically. However, they would not start the announced services to Amsterdam and London, and instead concentrate their growth at Gardermoen. The company stated that they made 3% of their revenue at Rygge. On 9 September, the ministry increased the air movement ceiling to 21,000 movements per year. On 24 November, Ryanair announced that they would establish a base at Rygge in March 2010. The airline would start services to

Århus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Weeze Weeze (, Dutch: ''Wees'') is a municipality in the Lower Rhine (Niederrhein) region, in the northwestern part of North Rhine-Westphalia in the district of Kleve in the region of Düsseldorf. The municipality consists of the town of Weeze and th ...

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

, Kraków,

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, Málaga,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Palma de Mallorca,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

, Valencia and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. In December, the company announced further routes to Faro and

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

. In 2009, the airport company lost NOK 102 million. From 5 May, Ryanair started flights to

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

. In mid-2010, Norwegian terminated its services to Berlin, Budapest, Palanga, Prague and Valencia, and reduced the frequency to Alicante and Málaga. However, it started new routes to

Dalaman Dalaman is a district, as well as the central town of that district, situated on the southwestern coast of Turkey, in the Muğla Province. Dalaman Stream (''Dalaman çayı'') forms much of the western border of the district, where its neighbor ...

and

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. In July, Norwegian stated that they were considering terminating all services from Rygge. In particular, the company stated that they were not satisfied with having higher fees than Ryanair, and that they were in negotiations with Torp to move their operations there. In September, Norwegian announced that it was terminating the services to Bodø and Tromsø. In November 2010, the instrument landing system (ILS) was upgraded from Category I to Category II. This included the installation of 800

light emitting diode A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (cor ...

s (LED) on the runway and taxiway, making Rygge the first airport in Europe with such an installation. It decreased the requirement for visibility from . The upgrades cost NOK 65 million, and made Rygge the second airport with ILS Cat II in Norway, after

Stavanger Airport, Sola Stavanger Airport ( no, Stavanger lufthavn; ), commonly just known as Sola, is an international airport located in Rogaland county, Norway. The airport is located southwest of the centre of the city of Stavanger inside the neighboring munici ...

(Gardermoen has Cat III). The same month, Ryanair started new routes to London,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

. At the same time, Norwegian terminated its service to Stavanger.

Closure to civilian traffic

The airport announced on 24 May 2016 that it would cease civilian operations by 1 November 2016, stating that the Norwegian air passenger charge made Rygge uncompetitive. Ryanair, the airport's largest customer (the only other airline offering a few regular services being Norwegian Air Shuttle), had earlier announced it would pull out of Rygge if the air passenger charge was not removed.newsinenglish.no – Ryanair’s airport ‘will shut down’
24 May 2016 Ryanair accounted for around two thirds of traffic at the airport and served 29 destinations, of which 16 were year-round, from Moss/Rygge as of October 2016. Business travellers did not really use the airport. Attempts were made by typical business airlines on domestic flights and destinations like London, which were not successful. Business travellers usually require frequent departures and Ryanair offered sparse schedules with often a few flights per destination and week. The attempts on domestic flights were also less attractive since Rygge could not compete with Gardermoen on frequency. On 1 June 2016, Ryanair confirmed it would close its base at Moss/Rygge by 29 October 2016. Ryanair subsequently cancelled 16 routes to/from the Oslo area entirely, while moving 8 routes to

Sandefjord Airport, Torp Sandefjord Airport, Torp ( no, Sandefjord lufthavn, Torp; ) is an international airport located northeast of Sandefjord, Norway and south of Oslo. The airport features a runway aligned 18/36. Torp partially serves as a regional airport for Ves ...

and 2 routes to the primary

. Ryanair wrote that the tax forced them to halve their traffic to and from Norway. Since Rygge could not sustain half the traffic, the decision was made to close it. The last aircraft to depart was an empty Ryanair Boeing 737-800 on a ferry flight to

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

on 30 October.

Facilities

Overview

The airport is a joint military and civilian airport located in the municipality of Rygge, west of the lake

. The airport is primarily an international, low-cost airport, but also serves as a domestic regional airport for Østfold and Follo. The airport is owned by the

Norwegian Defence Estates Agency The Norwegian Defence Estates Agency ( no, Forsvarsbygg) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for the real estate belonging to the Military of Norway. It is not part of the military operations, but is instead directly subordinate to the N ...

, while the civilian terminal is owned by Rygge Sivile Lufthavn AS ("Rygge Civilian Airport"), a private company owned by the Thon Group (40%), the

(40%), Østfold Energi (15%) and Østfold County Municipality (5%). The terminal building is , and is dimensioned for 2 million passengers annually. The terminal is open around the clock. There are eight gates and seven aircraft stands, of which two can switch between domestic and international departures. The runway is long and wide. It is equipped with

instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

Category II using solely

s (LED) as lights. This allows landing with visibility. The airport has a

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use gravel ...

and a

de-icing Deicing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only deice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or preve ...

platform.

Military

Rygge Air Station is home to the 720 Squadron of the Royal Norwegian Air Force (NoRAF), which operates

Bell 412 The Bell 412 is a utility helicopter of the Huey family manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It is a development of the Bell 212, with the major difference being the composite four-blade main rotor. Design and development Development began in the ...

helicopters, the 717 Squadron which operates

Dassault Falcon 20 The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French business jet developed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. The first business jet developed by the firm, it became the first of a family of business jets to be produced under the same name; of these, both ...

jets, and a detachment of the 330 Squadron which operates

Westland Sea King The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engin ...

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

helicopters. The air station also hosts several support functions, including education, logistics of the air force, and branch of the

Norwegian Home Guard The Norwegian Home Guard ( no, Heimevernet – "HV") is the rapid mobilisation force within the Norwegian armed forces. Its main focus is local defense and civil support, but it can also detach volunteers for international operations. Its main ta ...

. The military run all common functions of the airport, such as the runway, fire and rescue service, and the air traffic control.

Airlines and destinations

As of 30 October 2016, there is no longer any scheduled commercial traffic to and from Moss/Rygge.

shut down its entire operations on 29 October 2016 while the only other regular tenant,

, left a few days earlier.

Statistics

Ground transport

Car

Moss Airport, Rygge is located from Oslo; this compares to for Gardermoen and for Torp. The terminal building is located next to

European Route E6 European route E6 ( no, Europavei 6, sv, Europaväg 6, or simply E6) is the main north-south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and t ...

. The airport is located 45 minutes from Oslo, and 12 minutes from Moss, and 25 minutes from

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

. Access to

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardan ...

runs via the

Oslofjord Tunnel The Oslofjord Tunnel () is a subsea road tunnel which traverses the Oslofjord, connecting Hurum and Frogn in Norway. Carrying three lanes, the long tunnel reaches a depth of below mean sea level. The tunnel has a maximum gradient of seven per ...

, while

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...

is available via the Moss–Horten Ferry. There is parking for 2,500 cars at the airport.

Rail

The airport is located from Rygge Station on the

Østfold Line The Østfold Line ( no, Østfoldbanen) is a railway line which runs from Oslo through the western parts of Follo and Østfold to Kornsjø in Norway. It continues through Sweden as the Norway/Vänern Line. The northern half is double track and th ...

. The railway station is from

Oslo Central Station Oslo Central Station ( no, Oslo sentralstasjon, abbreviated ) is the main railway station in Oslo, and the largest railway station within the entire Norwegian railway system. It connects with Jernbanetorget station. It's the terminus of Dramme ...

(Oslo S) and is served by the

, who operate an hourly regional train service between Oslo and Halden using

NSB Class 73 NSB Class 73 ( no, NSB-type 73) is a class of 22 electric multiple units built by Adtranz for the Norwegian State Railways. The four-car trains were modifications of Class 71, which was again based on the Swedish X2. The A-series consists of ...

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

s, with an extra departure in the rush hour. Three of the daily services continue onwards south to

, Sweden. Travel time to Oslo S is 50 minutes, to Halden is 55 minutes, and to Gothenburg C is 3 hours and 3 minutes. NSB operated a free shuttle bus to Moss Airport, Rygge, which took 8 minutes. There is a waiting room in the station building

Coach

Prior to the closure of the airport, UniBuss operated Rygge-Ekspressen from Oslo with a travel time of 60 minutes. The bus service ran in correspondence with all of Norwegian's and Ryanair's flights, leaving 2 hours and 40 minutes before departure. NOR-WAY Bussekspress operated the service Flybussekspressen, which ran from Fredrikstad & Sarpsborg via Moss Airport, Moss and Follo to

. Travel time to Fredrikstad was 30 minutes, Sarpsborg 20, and travel time to Gardermoen is 1 hour and 40 minutes.

References

External links

Official website
{{Portal bar, Aviation, Norway Airports in Viken Defunct airports in Norway Royal Norwegian Air Force airfields Airports established in 2007 2007 establishments in Norway Rygge