Kristiansand Airport is the gateway to Sørlandet, Norway’s southern coast of white wooden houses, skerries and summer boat traffic. It is small, calm and easy to use, which makes it one of the more relaxed places in the country to start or end a trip.
The one thing that catches people out is location. The airport is not in Kristiansand itself but at Kjevik, out by the Topdalsfjord, and the way into town works a little differently than it did a few years ago.
This guide covers what you need on the day: where the airport sits, who flies there, how to reach the city and how much time to leave on the way out.
Where Kjevik is and what it is called
Kristiansand Airport (IATA code KRS, ICAO ENCN) lies at Kjevik in the Tveit district, about 16 km from the city centre by road. As the crow flies it is closer, roughly 8 km, but the road loops around the fjord.
You will see it called Kristiansand lufthavn, Kjevik, or simply Kristiansand Kjevik. They are all the same airport, run by the state operator Avinor.
It is also the only airport in Agder with scheduled passenger flights. If you are asking for the nearest airport to Kristiansand, Norway, this is it. The next options are Stavanger Airport Sola to the west and Sandefjord Airport Torp to the east, both well over 200 km away by road.
Who flies to Kristiansand Airport
The route network is compact but useful. On a normal weekday in autumn 2026, departures cover five destinations: Oslo, Bergen, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, plus a few other seasonal ones depending on the time of year.
Oslo Gardermoen is the busiest route. SAS and Norwegian both fly it several times a day, with a flight time of around 45 to 50 minutes. Widerøe runs the Bergen route with several daily departures, which is handy for reaching western Norway without a stop in Oslo.
The two international links are the ones most visitors use to connect. KLM flies to Amsterdam, and SAS flies to Copenhagen. Both open up a wide spread of onward flights across Europe and beyond, often with only one change.
Seasonal and charter flights to sunshine destinations come and go. SAS has flown to Alicante in the summer season, and holiday charters to places such as Rhodes, Crete and Gran Canaria appear in some programmes. Avinor also lists Wizz Air and British Airways among its airlines at Kristiansand, but these do not run every season.
Because the list shifts between winter and summer, treat it as a starting point. Check Kristiansand departures and arrivals on the live board on the day you travel, and confirm your timetable with the airline. If you are mixing carriers on a longer Norwegian trip, SAS, Norwegian and Widerøe: who flies where explains how the domestic network fits together.
Kristiansand Airport to the city centre
This is the part where older travel guides go wrong. The dedicated airport express coach, Flybussen, used to link Kjevik with the city, but its Kristiansand service is on hold. Flybussen itself points travellers to the local operator instead.
That leaves you with three realistic choices: the local bus, a taxi or a rental car.
The local bus, line 35
Agder kollektivtrafikk (AKT), the regional public transport company, now treats its ordinary local buses as the airport service. Line 35 runs between Kristiansand, Kjevik and Tveit, and some departures on line 36 towards Birkeland also stop at the airport.
From the airport, the bus leaves from stop B, just outside the domestic terminal. It runs via Hamresanden, the E18 and the university before ending at Kristiansand bus station. The trip takes roughly half an hour. In the other direction, catch it from platform 4 at the bus station.
The most important detail is that this is a regular local route. It follows a fixed timetable and will not wait for a delayed flight, so check the next departure before you land.
Fares are cheap. Kjevik to the city centre counts as one zone, which AKT prices at NOK 39 for an adult single bought in advance in the AKT Billett app, or NOK 66 if you pay on board. Child and senior tickets are half price.
Taxi, rental car and a boat option
Taxis wait outside the terminal and take around 20 minutes to the centre in normal traffic. They are the easy answer when the bus timetable does not fit or you arrive late in the evening.
Car rental desks inside the terminal include Avis, Budget, Hertz, Sixt, Europcar and Enterprise. A car makes sense if you plan to explore the coast towards Lillesand and Grimstad, or head inland up the Setesdal valley.
There is also a more unusual option. Avinor promotes a RIB boat taxi service between Kjevik and the city, crossing the water instead of driving around it. It is a pre-booked experience rather than everyday transport, but it is a memorable way to arrive.
Heading further: Arendal, Grimstad and the rest of Sørlandet
If your destination is east along the coast, there is no direct airport bus to Arendal or Grimstad at the moment. AKT’s advice is to combine line 35 or 36 with the regional line 100, which runs between Kristiansand and Lillesand, Grimstad and Arendal.
Good places to change are Vige, Vollevannet, the university stop or Kristiansand bus station. From Kjevik, Lillesand is two fare zones, Grimstad three and Arendal four.
Kristiansand’s railway station sits next to the bus station by the harbour. Go-Ahead runs the Sørlandet Line from here towards Oslo in one direction and Stavanger in the other, so you can step off a flight, ride into town and continue by train.
The ferry terminal is in the same area. Color Line sails from Kristiansand to Hirtshals in Denmark, which some travellers combine with a flight in one direction.
Oslo Airport to Kristiansand: fly or go overland?
Plenty of people land at Oslo Gardermoen first, especially on long-haul trips. From there you have two main ways to reach Kristiansand.
Flying is by far the quickest. The hop from Oslo Airport takes under an hour in the air, and if you book the whole journey on one ticket your bag can usually be checked through. Our guide to connecting through Oslo Gardermoen covers how transfers there work in practice.
Going overland takes most of the day. You would take a train from Gardermoen into Oslo, then the Sørlandet Line south, which takes roughly four and a half hours from Oslo to Kristiansand. Driving the E18 is a similar commitment. It is a pleasant journey if you have time, but rarely the choice when you are tired after a long flight.
Inside the terminal at Kjevik
Kristiansand Airport is a single terminal building with domestic and international sections. Walking distances are short, and you can see most of the airport from the check-in hall.
You will find a café and a small selection of shops, plus tax-free for international flights with Avinor’s Click & Collect pre-order service. It is comfortable for a normal wait, but not an airport to plan a long layover around.
Expect boarding by stairs or a walk on the apron on many flights rather than an air bridge. Keep a warm layer handy in winter, because the wind off the fjord can be sharp.
Timing your departure from Kristiansand
The terminal is compact, so it is tempting to arrive at the last minute. Departures cluster in waves, though, with busy peaks around 06:00 to 07:00 and again around 18:00, when several Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Bergen flights leave close together.
For domestic flights, arriving about an hour before departure is a sensible default. Allow more time for international flights, checked bags and passport checks outside the Schengen area. How early to get to the airport in Norway explains the wider rules of thumb.
If you rely on the bus, work backwards from the timetable rather than your flight time. With departures that are not timed around flights, missing one can leave you waiting a while, and a taxi is the fallback if the timings do not line up.
A simple plan for arriving
Once you land, check the next line 35 departure while you wait for your bag. If it is close, walk straight out to stop B. If not, a taxi gets you into town in about 20 minutes.
Kristiansand’s grid of streets around the Kvadraturen district keeps hotels, the harbour and the beach at Bystranda within easy reach. From there, the rest of Sørlandet is a bus, train or ferry ride away, and the hardest part of the journey is already behind you.
