OSLO, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- A freight of 506 tonnes left daily from the main airport in Norway's capital, making the cargo airport here the biggest in the Nordic region, public broadcaster NRK reported Thursday.
Cargo growth increased by 35 percent from 2016 to 2017 at Oslo airport, and seafood took the big portion of it, the report said.
"Seafood that is exported to the world markets makes the largest volume of air freight at Oslo airport," said Martin Langaas, director of traffic Development and Cargo of Avinor, a state-owned company that operates most of the civil airports in Norway.
Norwegian airports make 50 percent of the all flights in Scandinavia today, and there are well established routes from Oslo to other places around the world, including Seoul, Tel Aviv, the United Arab Emirates and Istanbul.
In addition, both China and the United States have joined the countries that are interested in import of delicacies from Norwegian fjords, NRK wrote.
Last year, a total of 230,000 tonnes of seafood were exported from Norway, but much of it is still transported by railway to the major freight terminals in Europe.
"Asia is indisputably the largest market for us, but we see that, among others, the United States is now more and more coming into focus," Ola Helge Hjetland, communications manager of seafood company Marine Harvest, told NRK.
Last year, there was an increase of 52 percent in freight on intercontinental freight routes, and the volume also increased on the way back to Norway.
According to Avinor, shipping to Norway increased by 110 percent on passenger flights.
Due to the huge freight growth, a new and privately-funded Oslo Airport Seafood Center will open in 2020.
"More direct capacity from Oslo airport is important for us in the industry, and it helps to improve access to our key markets," Hjetland said.
