Substantial traffic is generated by CHC Helikopter Service and Bristow Norway to offshore oil platforms in the North Sea.

[3]: 63 Alternatives were launched by two competing airlines: Braathens SAFE proposed a minor upgrade to Herdla which would allow them to operate with their de Havilland Heron aircraft.

Widerøe on their side proposed using their Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats, but these proved to expensive.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) granted funding for seven air stations in Norway in 1952, but these did not include Flesland.

A further NOK 4 million was presumed financed by the municipalities of Bergen and Fana to build a terminal, eminent domain and a road.

[3]: 56 The first aircraft to land at the airport was a de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter of the Air Force on 18 June 1954.

[3]: 72  The first revenue flight was a charter carried out by Braathens SAFE for SK Brann, who flew to Oslo to play a football match.

Vestlandske Luftfartsselskap flew services northwards along the coast to towns in Møre og Romsdal and to Trondheim.

Iceland-based Loftleiðir received permission to operate a flight from Flesland via Reykjavík to New York twice per week.

SAS announced that they would take delivery of the intercontinental jetliner Douglas DC-8, which would require a longer runway than was available at both Flesland and Fornebu.

[3]: 92  The air station was upgraded in 1962 and consisted of a series of mountain halls, which could house more than twenty-five fighter aircraft.

[4]: 121–125  Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget, opened in 1970, with Braathens SAFE receiving the route concession from Bergen.

Instead Braathens SAFE was granted the right to fly from Bergen via Ålesund, Kristiansund, and the newly opened Molde Airport, Årø, to Bodø and Tromsø.

They were operated with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft, and passengers had to transfer at Flesland to reach Oslo.

[3]: 228  It had a limited height because of restrictions caused by the military designation of the main parallel taxiway as an emergency runway.

[11] With the ending of the Cold War following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the military activity at Flesland diminished.

[3]: 91  Planning of the downgrading of the air station had started in 1988, and from 1995 only personnel necessary for maintaining infrastructure was left, reducing the crew to 33.

For the first time, an airline could receive sufficient landing slots to challenge SAS and Braathens on domestic routes.

The low-cost carrier Color Air was established, and started flights from Oslo to Bergen using Boeing 737-300 aircraft.

[15][16][17] Color Air filed for bankruptcy on 27 September 1999,[18] ending a price war which had cost the airlines NOK 3 billion.

The daily operation of the air station was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy, who have six employees at the base.

[25] The international arrival section was expanded with 450 square meters (4,800 sq ft) in 2005, followed by an extra story over part of the terminal, used as offices and allowed a doubling of the size of the duty-free.

The terminal has reached its capacity for simultaneous passengers, and especially security, check-in, arrival hall and baggage handling have limited space.

Widerøe operates the routes to Florø, Sogndal and Ørsta–Volda on public service obligation contract with the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

[35] Bergen Air Transport is based at Flesland, and offers general aviation and executive jet operations.

Bristow Norway and CHC Helikopter Service operate to offshore oil platforms from the helicopter terminal.

They alternate operating via Fjøsanger and Fyllingsdalen, At Flesland Quay, connected to the airport by shuttle bus, there are several fast ferry services to Austevoll, Sunnhordland, Haugesund and Stavanger.

[77]: 27 Helikopter Service Flight 165, a crash of a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter into the North Sea 78 nautical miles (144 km; 90 mi) northwest of the airport, took place on 26 June 1978.

Based on a design by Narud Stokke Wiig Arkitekter og Planleggere (now Nordic — Office of Architecture), it is scheduled for completion in 2016 and is estimated to have sufficient capacity until 2026.

[7]: 39  The price is estimated at NOK 2 Billion and will also include an expansion of the Bergen Light Rail to the airport.