While most laypeople’s experience with aviation starts and ends with commercial airlines, cargo transportation involves an even larger network of flights that take place throughout the world.
Mail transportation is typically handled by the national postal service of a given country; in the Scandinavian nation of Norway, it’s the Posten Norge. Its airmail branch was established in 1920 to serve the needs of a country spanning more than 385,207 square kilometers (148,729 square miles), including many remote regions in the north.
The first mail flight operated by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service ran from Horten on the western shore of the Oslofjord to Kristiania, the former name for the capital of Oslo.
Norway’s Posten Norge quietly transfers all air mail deliveries to trucks, trains
After 106 years of continuous operations, the airmail service branch of Posten Norge is quietly shutting down, as the agency reallocates all domestic mail transportation to road services through trucks and its rail network.
Mail coming in from other parts of the country, meanwhile, will be delivered in partnership with the postal services of other countries and through private shipping companies.
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As reported by Norwegian business newspaper E24, the decision was made due to the high cost of aviation. In addition, ch-aviation noted, the vast majority of mail to all parts of the country can be delivered within one to three days via ground transportation, with special express options also available by road.
The drastic drop in the number of physical letters sent over the last few decades amid the rise of technology and online messaging have also made ground transportation the more efficient option.
Amid the skyrocketing price of jet fuel, air-mail deliveries within Norway have also been plagued by cancellations and disruptions throughout 2026.
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At the start of 2026, in a decision that may appear drastic to many other countries, the national postal service of the fellow Nordic nation of Denmark made a similar move to stop delivering letters entirely, FOX 5 reported.
As a result of Posten Norge’s decision, air carrier SprintAir exited the country at the end of June 2026. The Polish charter airline operates cargo flights in many European countries and was already facing challenges in Norway due to the cost of running flights amid declining demand.
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Norwegian regulators had also previously found the airline in violation of the country’s environmental standards and put it on a timeline to make changes.
The airline informed the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority of its exit from the country in a letter dated July 1. SprintAir continues to run cargo operations in multiple countries in Europe and North Africa, as well as running charter flights connecting multiple cities in Poland to Germany and Czechia.
The cessation of the Norwegian air mail program was done quietly and was only made public when several local outlets reported on it.
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