Commons Content Party

When Bromma airport opened in Stockholm here in Sweden, it was the first land based airport in the city. Other airports like Barkaby in Järfälla outside the city limits existed but were seen as too cumbersome to get access to.

So Bromma was built.

And in 1936 it was opened with large celebrations and international guests.

If you look closer at the photo you can see aircraft from France and Germany, with the German planes having swastikas on the tail.

Before Bromma, Stockholm had a seaplane airport at Lindarängen, the area of which was later taken over as the freeport of Stockholm expanded over the years, there is still a hangar from back then that is still in use, in this case as a cold storage.

Over they years as Stockholm expanded, airplanes grew in size and speed, requiering longer runways and larger facilities, and in 1962 the new international airport Arlanda opened.

Bromma is still active, mostly serving smaller commuter planes and private jets.

There is a decades long debate on wheather or not to close the airport and when, I suspect it will be closed within ten years or so.

The photo is in the public domain.