Did you know Stockholm Arlanda got its name from a 1958 naming competition?

Sweden's largest airport owes its name to a naming competition: the name Arlanda was approved by the Riksdag, the Swedish parliament, after a contest held in 1958. Swedavia's page on the airport shows that it took shape over more than a decade before it was officially declared open.

The Riksdag agreed to build a major airport in 1946 and construction began in 1952. The first official flight from Bromma to the new airport took place on 26 November 1954, the main runway opened in 1959 and a SAS flight to New York departed on 23 June 1960. Only on 1 April 1962 was Arlanda officially opened, when international flights moved there from Bromma.

Later milestones followed. Terminal 5, the international terminal, was inaugurated in 1976; the Arlanda Express rail service began in 1999; an 83-metre air traffic control tower entered service on 23 December 2001; and Runway 3 opened on 17 April 2003. Swedavia, formed in 2010, took over Sweden's ten most important airports. In 2025 Arlanda handled more than 24 million passengers.

The terminal numbers also carry that history. Today's Terminal 2 was a domestic building that became international-only after Sweden joined Schengen in 2001, while Terminal 4 was originally Domestic Terminal 1, opened in 1983. Passengers should check which terminal their airline uses before heading to Arlanda.