The aerodrome consisted of docks, a landing ramp, terminal building and a hangar and used a section of the Oslofjord as its runway.

Norsk Luftruter received a concession to operate the airport, ground handling and the ferry service.

Deutsche Luft Hansa commenced the first service on 18 July 1927, flying from Oslo via Gothenburg and Copenhagen to Szczecin.

Deutsche Luft Hansa moved its flights to Kjeller from 1938 and from 1 July the following year all civilian traffic was transferred to Oslo Airport, Fornebu.

The airline proposed that Lindøya, an island located immediately north of Gressholmen, would be a suitable site.

The issue was debated in Parliament, as the airline proposed leasing 2 hectares (4.9 acres) of the island from the state for 99 years.

This would allow for the establishment of a service to Copenhagen, and possibly at a later date domestic flights to Trondheim, Bodø and Harstad.

By then Oslo Municipality had issued a grant of 130,000 Norwegian krone (NOK) under the explicit condition that the state finance the rest of the airport.

[3] An air route had by then been established from Hamburg via Malmö to Gothenburg and the airline offered to extend it to Oslo if a suitable airport was built.

Within a month Norwegian Air Lines was established and it also applied to operate the airport and affiliated service, but this was rejected by the state.

Instead, DNL was granted a concession to operate a ferry service from Oslo East Station to Gressholmen.

Deutsche Luft Hansa widened its season in 1933 to encompass services from 1 May to 30 September, allowing ridership to increase to 1,230.

The following June a second similar aircraft was delivered and the company started flying a service from Gressholmen via Lillehammer to Bygdin.

[9] The Lindøya-based Holm & Bøe started ferry services to Gressholmen in the early 1930s on contract with the airlines.

[11] From the early 1930s Norway Post started leasing designated postal night flights, which were flown by Halle & Peterson.

[7] DNL's travel time from Oslo to Bergen was four and a half hours, with intermediate stops in Moss, Arendal, Kristiansand, Stavanger and Haugesund.

[18] DNL struck a deal with Pan American World Airways in 1936 to start transatlantic flights and bought a Sikorsky S-43.

[24] At the break-out of Operation Weserübung—the start of the German occupation of Norway on 9 April 1940—the Luftwaffe bombed Gressholmen at 08:30.

[24] At the time there were two Junkers Ju 52s at the airport, one was for the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service and the other was intended for civilian use.

[11] The airport was located on Gressholmen, an island situated in the Oslofjord, close to downtown Oslo, only accessible by boat.

The hangar and terminal buildings remain in use today for storage of pleasure boats and the docks are used as a marina.