Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes (Norwegian:
Harstad/Narvik lufthavn, Evenes) is located in the
EvenesEvenes is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Ofoten region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bogen.The old municipality of Ofoten was split into Evenes and Ankenes on 1 January 1884...
municipality, in
Nordlandis a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...
county in northern
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Some of the runway lighting at the north end of the runway crosses the county border into the
SkånlandSkånland is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Evenskjer.- General information :...
municipality in
Tromsor Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...
. The airport had 506,449 passengers in 2009.
Name
The airport serves the cities of
Harstadis the second largest city and municipality by population, in Troms county, Norway – the city is also the third largest in North Norway. Thus Harstad is the natural centre for its district. Situated approximately north of the Arctic Circle, the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in...
and
Narvikis the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...
with the surrounding areas. There have been discussions about the name of the airport. Harstad is the nearest and the biggest city, and the city of Narvik has its own (small) airport,
Narvik Airport, FramnesNarvik Airport, Framnes is a regional airport serving the city of Narvik in Nordland, Norway. The airport is a secondary airport with only short regional flights, while the primary Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes has long-distance jet services. Framnes is significantly closer to Narvik than...
, confusing many passengers. In April 2008 it was decided to use the name
Lofoten International Airport in marketing of the airport. There are two short-runway airports in
LofotenLofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.-Etymology:...
−
Leknes AirportLeknes Airport is a regional airport serving Leknes in Lofoten, Nordland, Norway. In 2005 Leknes Airport had 74,572 passengers. It is operated by Avinor.-Service:...
on
VestvågøyVestvågøy is an island and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Lofoten traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Leknes....
a and
Svolvær AirportSvolvær Airport, Helle is a regional airport serving the communities of Svolvær in Nordland, Norway.- Service :...
on
AustvågøyAustvågøy is the northeasternmost of the larger islands in the Lofoten archipelago in Nordland county, Norway. The island is 526.7 km² and extends up to 40 km in the east-west direction and 30 km north-south. Austvågøy is largely a mountain massif, with lowland almost exclusively at...
a. Evenes however remains the nearest airport from Lofoten with a long runway and direct flights to
OsloOslo Airport, Gardermoen is the principal airport serving Oslo, Norway. It acts as the main domestic hub and international airport for Norway, and the second-busiest airport in the Nordic countries. A hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, and a focus city for Widerøe, it is...
.
There are mostly domestic flights from the airport, including non-stop flights to Oslo,
TrondheimTrondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
,
Bodøis a city and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region.The city of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Bodin was merged with Bodø on 1 January 1968. Skjerstad was merged with Bodø on 1 January 2005...
and
TromsøTromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
. There are also charter flights to
Southern EuropeThe term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...
and the
Canary IslandsThe Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
. In addition, there have been cargo flights with
salmonSalmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
to
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The small airline Kato Air was based at the airport.
History
Even though the airport opened in 1972, the runway was later lengthened, and investments in the military infrastructure continued after the cold war ended. Some of the infrastructure are still in use for training purposes, particularly winter training for NATO soldiers. The large
C-5 GalaxyThe Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...
has used the airport several times during winter exercises. Antonov 124 has been the largest airplane operating at Evenes.
The airport is now almost exclusively for civilian use, but there are extensive military infrastructure as this was an air station for the
Royal Norwegian Air ForceThe Royal Norwegian Air Force is the air force of Norway. It was established as a separate arm of the Norwegian armed forces on 10 November 1944. The RNoAF's peace force is approximately 1,430 employees . 600 personnel also serve their draft period in the RNoAF...
, and was partly funded by
NATO.
Airlines and destinations
Ground transportation
There are bus connections to Harstad (44 km), Narvik (80 km), and
Sortlandis a town and municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Vesterålen traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sortland. In 1997, the municipality decided to declare township for Sortland...
(120 km) from the airport. The bus connecting Narvik and
Svolvær-Communications:Parts of the town is built on small islands connected by bridges. There is a regional airport near the town, Svolvær Airport, Helle, and Svolvær is a port of call for Hurtigruten. There is a ferry connection Svolvær to Skutvik in Hamarøy, and express boat connections to Bodø...
(160 km) also stops at the airport. Taxis are available.
Weather
As with many airports, there is an official weather station at the airport, 26 meters amsl. Statistics from this station gives following monthly 24-hr averages: January -4.2°C, April 1.5°C, July 13.5°C and October 4,0°C.