September 25, 2009
In the northernmost region of Norway, a terminal at the airport serving the town and municipality of Alta was officially inaugurated. This dedication ceremony took place a little over a month after the terminal had first been opened for public use.
Alta Airport first went into service on May 4, 1963, with a shed initially used as its terminal. An actual terminal was completed and opened in 1964. In 2007, plans were authorized and put into place to replace that terminal – measuring a total of 5,479 square feet (1,670 square meters) — with a larger version that would not only be able to accommodate far more passengers but also allow for international flights.
“This will be a whole new world for us,” asserted airport manager Charles Kristiansen in discussing plans for both a new terminal and additional infrastructure. “This is the beginning of the brand new Alta Airport.”
The current terminal covers 54,000 square feet (5,000 square meters) altogether on the grounds of what is now one of the area’s busiest airports, and its formal debut was celebrated with considerable fanfare. These festivities, according to one newspaper account, included “speeches, gifts, music, food and drink.”
Liv Signe Navarsete, Norway’s minister of transport, was originally scheduled to attend the dedication ceremony but had to bow out. The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Transport was instead represented at the event by Erik Lahnstein, one of the agency’s state secretaries. “This is a fantastic day that so many have been looking forward to,” he proclaimed during his comments for the occasion.
Photo Credit: Algkalv (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en)
Additional information on airports in Norway is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Norway
Transportation History 
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