were 35 to 40 daily offshore helicopter flights out of Flesland each day. This was causing a press on the runway's capacity as the helicopters had to cross the runway to reach the North Sea. As estimates showed up to 60 flights per day, the airport started working on plans for a separate helicopter terminal, which would have been located southwest of the old main terminal and would have its own helicopter runway. Instead the traffic flatted out and the old main terminal was converted to a helicopter terminal. Braathens Helikopter established a base with two helicopters at Flesland in 1990. Within two years it had secured a thirty-percent market share of the offshore traffic. However, the airline was taken over by Helikopter Service in 1993. With the ending of the Cold War following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the military activity at Flesland diminished. Planning of the downgrading of the air station had started in 1988, and from 1995 only personnel necessary for maintaining infrastructure was left, reducing the crew to 33. Braathens SAFE introduced its first international Bergen service in 1991, to Newcastle. Norwegian Air Shuttle, originally a regional airline, took over Braathens' and Busy Bee's regional services from Bergen following the latter's bankruptcy in 1992. Norwegian originally flew to Kristiansand, Haugesund, Molde and Kristiansund. The domestic airline market was deregulated on 1 April 1994, so airlines no longer needed a concession to operate domestic routes. The immediate consequence was an increase of the number of flights by Braathens SAFE to Oslo. Oslo Airport, Gardermoen opened on 8 October 1998, replacing the congested Fornebu. For the first time, an airline could receive sufficient landing slots to challenge SAS and Braathens on domestic routes. The low-cost carrier Color Air was established, and started flights from Oslo to Bergen using Boeing 737-300 aircraft. The following price war on the route saw lower ticket prices and increased capacity. Color Air filed for bankruptcy on 27 September 1999, ending a price war which had cost the airlines NOK 3 billion. The final demise of the air station came in 1999, when all stationary assets were sold, including 30 vehicles. The daily operation of the air station was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy, who have six employees at the base. Flesland Air Station has since only held mobilization status and will only be used by the air force in