With the delivery of DC-8-aircraft, SAS started a direct service to New York. Fornebu had too short a runway to handle the DC-8, so Flesland became the main intercontinental hub in Norway. Another important factor during the 1960s was the low range of the aircraft—thus Bergen was a stop-over for aircraft from Stockholm and Copenhagen. Later the route was taken over using the Boeing 747. SAS started a direct service from Bergen to Tromsø in 1965. Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget opened in 1970, with Braathens SAFE receiving the route concession from Bergen. Two years later, in a national realignment of concessions, SAS lost their right to fly to Tromsø. 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. The first four regional airports in Sogn og Fjordane and Møre og Romsdal were opened in 1971 and Widerøe started flights to Florø, Førde, Sogndal and Ørsta–Volda. They were operated with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft and passengers had to transfer at Flesland to reach Oslo. A SAS service to New York from Oslo Airport, Gardermoen was introduced in 1974, and gradually the service was reduced, in part because of the increased range of newer aircraft. Haugesund Airport, Karmøy opened in 1975 and SAS opened a service between the two cities. Because of the increase of traffic was making the terminal building more cramped, a new administration building opened in the early 1970s, with a fire station in the ground floor. At the peak in 1976 and 1977, the air station had 60 employees and 15 conscripts. Helikopter Service started services to offshore oil platforms in May 1976; the first services were to Statfjord and were flown using Sikorsky S-61 helicopters. Busy Bee started a competing service from Bergen via Haugesund to Stavanger in 1982. Two years, late Norsk Air started a service from Sandefjord. Braathens SAFE was allowed to operate the Oslo to Bergen route from 1987. Automatic check-in machines were introduced the following year. Demilitarization and deregulation The current terminal opened in 1988, was also designed by Halfdan Grieg and cost NOK 250 million. This was followed up with a new control tower which opened in 1991. It had a limited height because of restrictions caused by the military designation of the main parallel taxiway as an emergency runway. By the mid-1980s there