The airport was first used in 1959 but only for practice flights.
It opened for limited civil traffic in 1960, and in 1962 the official opening ceremony took place.
It was used from the start for intercontinental traffic because the runway at Bromma was too short.
Scandinavian Airlines started using Douglas DC-8s on North American routes.
The airport was also used very early by Pan American World Airways.
The name Arlanda was decided after a competition prior to the airport opening.
It is derived from Arland, an old name for the parish Ärlinghundra (now Husby-Ärlinghundra in Märsta) where the airport is situated.
The '-a' was added in analogy with other Swedish place names ending with -landa and also plays on the Swedish verb "landa", which means "to land".
The 1960s and 1970s saw increases in traffic with scheduled traffic and charter traffic.
The Boeing 747 jumbojet started to be used in the 1970s, both on one-stop scheduled flights to New York and on weekend nonstop charters to the Canary Islands.
Domestic flights to Gothenburg, Malmö, Luleå and Kiruna were operated by SAS DC-9s from Arlanda since they were considered too noisy to be used at downtown Bromma.
The rest of domestic traffic operated out of Bromma and all international traffic out of Arlanda.

In 1983 the domestic traffic operated by Linjeflyg moved from Bromma to Arlanda, using the terminal now known as Terminal 4.
In 1990 two new domestic terminals called "Domestic 2 and 3" were built south of the first domestic terminal.
In 1992 the terminal 2 was partly abandoned because of traffic decrease.
It started to be used for international traffic the year after, and the main domestic and international terminals were renumbered into 4 and 5.
The third runway was built between 1998 and 2002.
However, a recession in 2002 delayed its opening until 2003.
At that time protests were raised by people living under its flight path in the municipality of Upplands Väsby.
Traffic has recovered since and is now showing healthy increases but the third runway is only used during peak hours for environmental reasons.
In September 2010 the first Airbus A380 superjumbo landed at the airport.

In early 2014, Swedavia announced plans for further expansions of the airport terminal complex, including the construction of an additional pier for Terminal 5 in order to better accommodate larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8 and address forecasts of rising passenger numbers.
The plans were approved by the Environmental Court of Appeals in December 2014, and construction was scheduled to commence in the spring of 2015.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of the flights were cancelled.
Swedish authorities advised against all non-essential travel inside and out of Sweden.
SAS decided to from 6 April 2020 fly only four domestic departures and four domestic arrivals from Arlanda, plus some international while Norwegian cancelled all flights from Arlanda except to Oslo.
Terminal 2, 3 and 4 closed and terminal 5 handled all passengers during this period.
The passenger figures were 97.7% lower in April 2020 than in April 2019.
The airport was first used in 1959 but only for practice flights. It opened for limited civil traffic in 1960, and in 1962 the official opening ceremony took place. It was used from the start for intercontinental traffic because the runway at Bromma was too short. Scandinavian Airlines started using Douglas DC-8s on North American routes. The airport was also used very early by Pan American World Airways. The name Arlanda was decided after a competition prior to the airport opening. It is derived from Arland, an old name for the parish Ärlinghundra (now Husby-Ärlinghundra in Märsta) where the airport is situated. The '-a' was added in analogy with other Swedish place names ending with -landa and also plays on the Swedish verb "landa", which means "to land". The 1960s and 1970s saw increases in traffic with scheduled traffic and charter traffic. The Boeing 747 jumbojet started to be used in the 1970s, both on one-stop scheduled flights to New York and on weekend nonstop charters to the Canary Islands. Domestic flights to Gothenburg, Malmö, Luleå and Kiruna were operated by SAS DC-9s from Arlanda since they were considered too noisy to be used at downtown Bromma. The rest of domestic traffic operated out of Bromma and all international traffic out of Arlanda.
In 1983 the domestic traffic operated by Linjeflyg moved from Bromma to Arlanda, using the terminal now known as Terminal 4. In 1990 two new domestic terminals called "Domestic 2 and 3" were built south of the first domestic terminal. In 1992 the terminal 2 was partly abandoned because of traffic decrease. It started to be used for international traffic the year after, and the main domestic and international terminals were renumbered into 4 and 5. The third runway was built between 1998 and 2002. However, a recession in 2002 delayed its opening until 2003. At that time protests were raised by people living under its flight path in the municipality of Upplands Väsby. Traffic has recovered since and is now showing healthy increases but the third runway is only used during peak hours for environmental reasons. In September 2010 the first Airbus A380 superjumbo landed at the airport.
In early 2014, Swedavia announced plans for further expansions of the airport terminal complex, including the construction of an additional pier for Terminal 5 in order to better accommodate larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8 and address forecasts of rising passenger numbers. The plans were approved by the Environmental Court of Appeals in December 2014, and construction was scheduled to commence in the spring of 2015.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of the flights were cancelled. Swedish authorities advised against all non-essential travel inside and out of Sweden. SAS decided to from 6 April 2020 fly only four domestic departures and four domestic arrivals from Arlanda, plus some international while Norwegian cancelled all flights from Arlanda except to Oslo. Terminal 2, 3 and 4 closed and terminal 5 handled all passengers during this period. The passenger figures were 97.7% lower in April 2020 than in April 2019.
Stockholm Arlanda Airport