The airport was created as a simple landing field in 1933. With the break-out of World War II the airport was used by the Norwegian Army Air Service as a stop-over for flights heading to Northern Norway. After the German forces took control of the area in 1940 they immediately started construction of a wooden runway. More than a thousand people participated in the construction. This allowed them to use the airfield as a stopover for Junkers Ju 87s, especially for bombing raids during the Battles of Narvik. Throughout the war the airport saw daily landings of bombers in transit between Southern and Northern Norway.