Construction

The first airport in Kristiansand was a water aerodrome situated in the city center. It was built by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service in 1918. A government commission recommended on 21 October 1920 that Kristiansand receive a water airport as part of a nationwide investment program. However, nothing came of the plans for more than a decade. Moving of the military water aerodrome was proposed several times, although this was never carried out before the construction of Kjevik.

Locally, the initiative for an airport in Kristiansand was launched by Mayor Andreas Kjær in 1933. The city council sent a formal application to the government in August 1934, asking for an airport. That summer Widerøe commenced flights to Kristiansand along a coastal route from Oslo to Haugesund. Norwegian Air Lines (DNL) commenced a coastal seaplane route along the southern coast from Oslo to Bergen via Kristiansand on 9 June 1935. This service used an aerodrome at Kongsgårdbukta.

The government stated in 1935 that it planned on building a main airport for Agder – Kristiansand, Mandal and Arendal were all proposed as suitable hosts. The government concluded that Kristiansand was the most suitable, based on traffic, military and financial considerations. Several locations were considered. Kongsgårdbakken was selected, costing 2 million Norwegian krone (NOK) less than Kjevik. The municipality and the state formalized construction in April 1936, where the former would provide the land and the construction costs of NOK 2.4 million would be split. Construction commenced soon afterwards.

Meanwhile, a group started looking at Kjevik as a suitable site, led by aviator Bernt Balchen, industrialist Rolf Petersen and Lawyer Hartmann. They presented detailed plans and agreed prices for purchase of lands. Based on this Kristiansand Municipal Council accepted on 5 August 1936 to reconsider Kjevik. Kjevik was passed in the council on 30 September 1937 with 34 against 26 votes. Construction commenced in November and was contracted to Høyer-Ellefsen. The same year the Norwegian Army Air Service used the fields at Kjevik for training.

The airport originally consisted of a 1,000-by-40-meter (3,280 by 130 ft) concrete runway connected to the apron with a 12-meter (39 ft) wide taxiway. A small, wooden terminal building was built of a shed and a nearby residential house was used as a restaurant. Seaplanes were served with a floating dock and a slipway. Kjevik opened on 1 June 1939, the same day as Oslo Airport, Fornebu. The first aircraft to land was a Douglas DC-2 of KLM. They started an international route from Oslo via Kristiansand to Amsterdam, while Danish Air Lines operated to Copenhagen. DNL opened a domestic seaplane route from Oslo via Kristiansand to Stavanger Airport, Sola.

Second World War

Kjevik was captured by the Luftwaffe during the German invasion on the 9th of April, 1940. The first aircraft landed at Kjevik as an emergency landing on the first day of the invasion. Later it was used by Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft, flying troops in. From the 11th of April, a squadron of Messerschmitt Bf 109s was stationed at Kjevik.

Luftwaffe immediately started upgrading the aerodrome. They began by removing a hill at the east end of the runway, followed by an extension of the runway. Tveit was transformed with military structures built throughout the village. In the east a minefield was laid and several fuel tanks were built around the airfield. Two large hangars were built, along with a large number of sheds. In the course of the war the runway was extended to 1,580 meters (5,180 ft). The German military planned a large expansion of the airport from 1945, which would have included new aprons and would have obliterated the village. These plans were halted by the end of the war.

Early operation

Kjevik was taken over by the Royal Air Force in May 1945. They started the work of mine sweeping and disarming the armaments and general clean-up of the aerodrome. It was later transferred to civilian use. The Air Force's Aircraft-Technical School and the Weapon-Technical School moved to Kjevik in February 1946. The latter moved to Lista Air Station two years later.

The upgraded facilities resulted in Kristiansand Municipality wanting to rid itself of the responsibility and cost of running the airport. The city council passed a resolution of 9 December 1946 offering the airport free of charge to the state. This was approved by Parliament on 20 June 1947. The same year the aviation club Kjevik Flyklubb was established.

On 6 March 1946 KLM resumed its route, flying from Oslo via Kristiansand to Amsterdam using a Douglas DC-3. By 1950 it was flown three times a week, and continued onwards to Brussels. DNL, through the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) cooperation started an international route on 2 October 1946 from Oslo via Kristiansand, Amsterdam and Brussels to Paris. Four days later a domestic Ju 52 seaplane route started from Kristiansand to Stavanger, Haugesund and Bergen.