Bromma Stockholm Airport (formerly Stockholm-Bromma Flygplats) is a Swedish domestic and minor international airport in Stockholm. It is located west-northwest of downtown Stockholm and is the closest to the city compared to the other commercial passenger airports in the area around Stockholm (

Arlanda Stockholm Arlanda Airport is an international airport located in the Sigtuna Municipality of Sweden, near the town of Märsta, north of Stockholm and nearly south-east of Uppsala. The airport is located within Stockholm County and the prov ...

, Skavsta and

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås is the se ...

). Bromma is Sweden's third-busiest airport by passenger traffic and take-offs and landings as of 2015.

History

Development

During the 1930s the need for a proper airport for Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, became urgent. The airport was opened on 23 May 1936 by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Gustav V, and was the first airport in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

to have

paved Pavement may refer to: * Pavement (architecture), an outdoor floor or superficial surface covering * Road surface, the durable surfacing of roads and walkways ** Asphalt concrete, a common form of road surface * Sidewalk or pavement, a walkway ...

runways from the start. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Swedish and British aircraft flew to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from Bromma Airport. Since these flights sometimes carried

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and

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refugees the airport became of interest for German spies, and two Swedish Douglas DC-3 that had taken off from Bromma were shot down by the Germans during the war. After the war the airport flourished, two noted airlines that operated from the airport were Aktiebolaget Aerotransport (ABA) which subsequently became the Swedish partner in Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and

Linjeflyg Linjeflyg was a Swedish domestic airline, formed in 1957 as a domestic subsidiary by Scandinavian Airlines System and Airtaco as well as by newspaper publishers Dagens Nyheter AB and Stockholms-Tidningen AB. History Airtaco (founded in August ...

(the Swedish main domestic airline which was later acquired by SAS). However the runway of Bromma was too short for the jet age and for intercontinental traffic in the 1960s (e.g.

DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Ju ...

), and the capacity limit of Bromma could be foreseen, therefore the

Stockholm Arlanda Airport Stockholm Arlanda Airport is an international airport located in the Sigtuna Municipality of Sweden, near the town of Märsta, north of Stockholm and nearly south-east of Uppsala. The airport is located within Stockholm County and the provi ...

was built. Also the airport, originally built in an almost rural area, became with the large raise in the population of Stockholm and associated housing projects, located inside a major city with associated noise pollution. With the opening of the Arlanda Airport in 1960–62, all international traffic moved there, the domestic traffic followed in 1983. Bromma became the domain of

business 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 pu ...

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 ...

and

flight school Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

s in addition to government use. Several of the old hangars were separated from the airport area and turned into shopping outlets adjacent to the airport. After the 1992 deregulation of civil aviation in Sweden, Malmö Aviation started services to Gothenburg,

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

and

London City Airport London City Airport is a regional airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial ...

, then the airport has experienced something of a renaissance. In 2002 a new control tower was put into use on ''Ranhammarshöjden'' and the terminal which had become rundown after years of neglect was renovated. The airport underwent further improvements in 2005 and is now capable of separating passengers arriving from within and outside of the

Schengen The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...

area. Sweden's first FBO (

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, ...

), Grafair Jet Center, was built in 2004 at Bromma Airport. The Swedish CAA at the time, Luftfartsverket, announced a bidding process in 2003 for a contract to build a General Aviation terminal at the airport in order to improve the ground services provided for the general aviation customers flying to Stockholm and Bromma Airport. Grafair won the contract and went on to build the FBO, which was finished 11 November 2004. The Grafair Jet Center was voted the 3rd best international FBO in May 2008 in AIN - Aviation International News. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

in 2020, all flights at Bromma were cancelled during a period. BRA, the most frequent airline at Bromma, decided to cancel all its flights from 6 April 2020. BRA restarted limited operations in late 2020. On 16 May 2021, Bromma Airport tram station was opened.

Future

Expansion of the airport would be limited by noise issues, a lack of space, and the necessity to preserve the cultural heritage (the airport buildings). With the completion of the third runway at

there is a capacity surplus at that airport, and there have been ongoing debates on whether to use the land occupied by Bromma Airport for residential and commercial purposes for several years. When the airport opened in 1936 the surrounding area was mostly rural, however as the city has expanded noise has become an issue. Therefore, certain measures have been put in place, such as limiting airport operations to the daytime, limiting the type of commercial aircraft which are allowed to operate from the airport and soundproofing residential homes near the airport. Bromma's main advantage over the much larger Arlanda Airport is its proximity to the centre of Stockholm (about 8 km or 5 miles). However, Arlanda's fast rail link, completed in 1999, means that Bromma's competitive edge in this respect is somewhat lost. In late 2014 the Red-Green alliance won control of both Stockholm city and the government in the general election. They stated plans to completely shut down the airport and build apartments instead back then. In May 2021, both the Swedish government and the airport's operator announced renewed plans to go ahead with the closure of the airport in the foreseeable future to make way for housing projects on the site. In October 2021, the Swedish government issued a report stating that Stockholm Bromma Airport could close between 2025 and 2027. All air traffic after the closure will be consolidated to

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Stockholm-Bromma:Swedavia – Bromma Timetable
retrieved 18 February 2018

Statistics

Other facilities

Bromma Airport is home of two flight clubs (''Stockholms Flygklubb'' and ''SAS Flygklubb''), as well as a flight school (''LidAir''). The state aviation, which operates VIP flights for the ministers of the government, the royal family and other high ranked government officials, is based on Bromma Airport.

Ground transportation

Bus

*Airport coaches travel directly between Stockholm Bromma Airport and the City Terminal (approx. 20 min travel time). *Buses 110 and 152 of the

Stockholm Transit Storstockholms Lokaltrafik, or more formally Aktiebolaget Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (Greater Stockholm Local Transit Company), is the organisation running all of the land based public transport systems in Stockholm County. It was previously k ...

(SL) system stop at the airport or have a bus stop close to the airport. Travel time to central Stockholm is usually 30 minutes, via Alvik or

Sundbyberg Sundbyberg Municipality (''Sundbybergs kommun'' or ''Sundbybergs stad'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, just north of the capital Stockholm. Sundbyberg is wholly within the Stockholm urban area and has a 100% urban p ...

. SL bus tickets must be purchased before boarding. Tvärbanan Bromma flygplats May 2021 03

Tram

*Trams go between the airport and Alvik which has a metro station. This tram service which was opened in May 2021 is a part of the

Tvärbanan Tvärbanan is a light-rail line in Stockholm, Sweden. Its name literally translates to ''The transverse line'', as it operates crosswise to the otherwise radial metro and commuter rail lines of Stockholm. It links together several transit ...

network.

Taxi

*There is a taxi stand at the airport, and the proximity to central Stockholm usually ensures that the availability is sufficient at most times.

Parking

There is parking at the airport, both at the terminal, short-term and long-term parking lots. Terminal parking costs 45 Swedish kronor/h and is limited to one hour, while short-term and long-term parking is slightly less expensive depending on the length of time. The parking lots are managed by the airport company

Swedavia Swedavia AB is a Swedish state-owned company, which owns and operates ten of Sweden's busiest airports. It has its head office at the air traffic control tower of Stockholm-Arlanda Airport in Sigtuna Municipality near Stockholm.RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Vickers Valetta The Vickers Valetta is a twin-engine military transport aircraft developed and produced by the British manufacturing company Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd. Developed from the Vickers VC.1 Viking compact civil airliner, it was an all-metal mid-wing m ...

with 22 passengers and crew on a military flight suffered a failure of the No. 2 engine and radio problems while near Stockholm Bromma Airport. Smoke was also seen coming from beneath the floor of the rear of the cabin. The crew attempted to make an emergency landing at the airport, however due to poor alignment with the runway and poor weather caused the aircraft to overshoot the runway. The aircraft climbed very poorly due to effects of airframe icing and the pilot made a forced belly landing on a clearing on high ground. One person was killed and the aircraft totally destroyed. *On 1 April 1951, a Scandinavian Airlines Douglas DC-3 on a flight from

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Kastrup 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 cou ...

to Stockholm Bromma Airport crash-landed in a field near the airport. None of the 18 passengers or 4 crew members were killed, but the aircraft was a write-off. *On 15 January 1977, Linjeflyg Flight 618, tail number SE-FOZ, crashed at Kälvesta on approach to Bromma, due to ice accretion on the tailplane leading to a loss of control. All 22 people on board were killed.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Airports in the Stockholm region Transport in Stockholm Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in the European Theater Airports established in 1936 1936 establishments in Sweden International airports in Sweden