Stockholm Arlanda Airport

Stockholm Arlanda Airport was carved out of forest about 40 kilometers north of Stockholm, with its first runway taken into use in 1959 for training and overflow traffic. The airport was officially inaugurated in 1962, when long-haul flights that had outgrown the short runways at central Bromma began operating from the new field.

The invented name Arlanda drew on Arland, the old name of the surrounding parish district. Through the 1960s and 1970s international traffic progressively shifted from Bromma, and by the 1980s nearly all Stockholm airline traffic was concentrated at Arlanda.

Expansion tracked the airport's role as a hub for SAS, Scandinavia's flag carrier. Terminal 5 became the main international building, the Arlanda Express high-speed rail link opened in 1999 to reach Stockholm Central in about 18 minutes. A third runway opened in 2003 to raise peak capacity.

Sky City, a glass-roofed complex between Terminals 4 and 5, gathered hotels, offices, and a rail station under one roof. Today Arlanda is Sweden's largest airport by a wide margin, the country's main long-haul gateway. A key node in the SAS network alongside Copenhagen and Oslo.

Arlanda operates three runways, including two near-parallel north-south strips that permit simultaneous operations at peak times, with traffic spread across Terminals 2, 3, 4, and 5; there is no Terminal 1. Terminal 5 handles most international and SAS flights, while smaller buildings serve domestic and low-cost operators.

SAS runs Arlanda as one of its Scandinavian hubs, complemented by Norwegian, Ryanair, and a growing list of long-haul carriers. Snow operations are a specialty, with plow teams routinely clearing and reopening runways within minutes in winter. The Arlanda Express train and frequent buses carry most passengers into central Stockholm.