1949: Construction of the new airport in Oulunsalo begins when the Oritkari airfield turns out to be too small for new aircraft.
1953: The airport is completed. Aero starts operating flights to Helsinki with DC-3 aircraft.
1958: The first actual airport and air navigation building is completed. The airport’s main runway is surfaced with asphalt.
1964: Jet traffic to Oulu begins.
1973: A new terminal building is opened. It was designed by the architecture firm K. Ström & O. Tuomisto, who also designed the airport building at Helsinki Airport, which opened in 1969.
1984: The airport reaches 300,000 passengers for the first time.
1994: The passenger terminal is extended to meet the needs of one million passengers per year.
1998: A new air traffic control tower is opened.
2002: The passenger terminal is extended again. The baggage handling facilities are revamped.
2011: The latest extension of the airport is opened in September 2011.
2012: 1,078,520 passengers (we exceeded one million passengers for the first time)
2013: Finnair/Flybe nine flights to Helsinki, Norwegian four flights to Helsinki and SAS two flights to Stockholm. Finavia Corporation will continue developing the airport terminal in Oulu. Finavia started to revamp the services and facilities for departing passengers at Oulu Airport after the turn of the year. The goal was to improve passenger service by improving the efficiency of the airport’s departures hall.
Photo: Finnair / Finnish Aviation Museum