Aero Center received permission to fly from Stord Airport, Sørstokken via Skien to Oslo in 1987. It originally operate a ten-seat Beechcraft Super King 200, but quickly went over to the larger de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter. Permission was granted in 1988 to operate direct flights from Stord to Oslo, and the service to Skien was dropped. Teddy Air was established in 1989 and began services from Skien to Fornebu the following year, initially using a Britten-Norman Islander. There was a lot of local opposition to the airline, and several local businesspeople claimed that it would be better if Norsk Air was awarded the contract, or Skien Airport was closed and locals instead used Sandefjord Airport. Norsk Air stated that it would not be possible for them to make money on the Skien–Oslo route; Widerøe chose to operate out of Sandefjord and from 1993 closed its operations at Geiteryggen. Teddy Air subsequently took over the Stavanger route, using an Embraer 110, while the Bergen route was granted to Air Stord, despite Teddy Air having applied for the concession. Coast Air was also awarded a concession on the route to Bergen. The domestic aviation market was deregulated in 1994 and Teddy Air stated competing with Air Stord on the Bergen route. Air Stord flew 31 flights per week, compared to the 16 offered by Teddy Air. For a brief period in 1996, Sun Air of Scandinavia operated a service to Copenhagen Airport. Fornebu was replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen in 1998, which increased driving time from Grenland to the national airport with an hour. Two airlines each established six daily round trips—Teddy Air using an Embraer 110 and Guard Air using a Dornier 228. Teddy Air withdrew from the route after one month and Air Stord went bankrupt in 1999. The same year Teddy Air was reorganized as a virtual airline and flights were taken over by Golden Air, who would operate the Saab 340. Teddy Air terminated all services in 2004 and the hangar at Geiteryggen was sold. Vildanden era Skien Airport had been taken over by Skien Municipality and was receiving annual subsidies of NOK 2.5 million from the municipality and NOK 3.8 million from the state. The closure of Teddy Air's services, combined with improved services from Torp, caused the airport to close in 2002. Vildanden was founded on 23 November 2004 by 18 local investors who