the aircraft to twenty passengers. The application was rejected by the ministry on the grounds that taxi routes were limited to ten-passenger aircraft. In 1979, the route had 14,000 passengers. In October 1979, Norving started a route taxi service between Skien and Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik. Norving made an interlining agreement to allow passengers on the Skien to Kristiansand route to transfer to Scandinavian Airlines System's Copenhagen flight, but low patronage caused the route was terminated in February 1981. Norving applied in the early 1980s for a concession on the route from Skien to Stavanger. This was granted on the condition the airline have a stopover at Farsund Airport, Lista. Norving started their route in May with two daily round trips using a Cessna 441 Conquest. Discussions of expanding the runway had been carried out since the 1970s, but the issue had stranded as no-one was willing to finance the venture. Skien Municipal Council wanted the municipalities of Porsgrunn and Bamble, and Telemark County Municipality to assist in the financing. A route was started by Norving to Bergen in 1984. A government report on the airport structure, published in April, down-prioritized Skien Airport, although it permitted state grants for an upgrade. An agreement was also made between Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble and the county. The upgrades allowed Norving to start operating the Dornier 228 at Geiteryggen, following improvements to the runway and instrument landing system. From 1985 they also started using the Saab 340 on Skien flights. From 1986 Norving started flights to Trondheim Airport, Værnes and Göteborg Landvetter Airport. A major upgrade to the airport took place in 1985. The runway was extended to , a new terminal building was constructed and Norving built a new hangar with space for three Saab 340. The ownership of the airport was transferred to an inter-municipal enterprise owned by Skien Municipality (40%), Porsgrunn Municipality (30%), Bamble Municipality (10%) and Telemark County Municipality (10%). The official opening took place in June 1987, following investments of NOK 50 million. That year the airport had 60,000 passengers. Norving's Skien-based operations were bought by Norsk Air in 1988. Norsk Air was based at Sandefjord Airport and initially intended to operate out of both airports. The airline was bought by Widerøe in 1989 and Widerøe decided to continue operations at both Torp and Geiteryggen for a year to see where to establish its base. Rapid change of airlines Coast