Preparations for the transfer of Oslo airport to Gardermoen north of the city on 8 October are being finalised by Statoil.
The corporate services unit is issuing a brochure with practical information for travellers on 2 October, which will be distributed via the travel agencies used by the group. Initially available in Norwegian, it is also due to appear in English later.
Some 400-500 Statoil employees currently fly every day between the present airport at Fornebu and the group's various offices.
Until the transfer to Gardermoen has taken place, corporate services is unable to say anything certain about the impact of this change.
However, experience from the opening of other international airports suggests that many travellers will take flights after the morning rush and that more people will stay overnight at hotels near Gardermoen.
At the same time, corporate services expects that many entities will seek to reduce the number of flights by coordinating travel assignments, holding more meetings at Statoil's main office sites and making a bigger commitment to videoconferencing.
For business travel in the Oslo area, the group plans to conclude an agreement with the NSB Gardermobanen company which runs the direct rail link between the capital and the new airport.
"We have every confidence in rail, and believe this line will be the most relevant transport solution in the Oslo area," says travel services manager Gunnar Andersen in corporate services' department for office administration and property management.
He believes the train service will prove a more attractive means of transport to and from Gardermoen than car and bus, because it will be difficult to predict how long road transport might take. Rail also represents the most attractive option in cost terms.