page_title: Farsund Airport, Lista
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Farsund Airport, Lista / History
caption_attribution_description: Air Stord, Lista lufthavn
context_page_description: Farsund Airport, Lista is an airport situated on the Lista peninsula in the municipality of Farsund in Agder county, Norway. The village of Vestbygd lies on the southwest side of the airport and the small village of Ore lies on the northeast side. The airport features a 2,990-meter concrete runway aligned 14/32. Previously it also had a 1,494-meter runway aligned 09/27. Farsund Airport, Lista is the civilian sector of the now closed Lista Air Station. Previously a regional airport, it is now only used for general aviation.
  The airbase was built by the Luftwaffe during the German occupation of Norway, opening in steps between 1941 and 1944. It was taken over by the Royal Norwegian Air Force from 1945. Civilian operations originally commenced in 1955 when Braathens SAFE started services with their de Havilland Heron. Nordsjøfly and its successor Norving flew from 1980 to 1988. The air station was closed in 1996 and the aerodrome privatized. Air Stord operated flights from 1996 to 1999 and since there have been no scheduled services.
context_section_description: Construction of Lista Air Station began was started by Luftwaffe in September 1940. It was part of a major investment in defenses built in Lista, known as Lista Fortress and was part of the Atlantic Wall. The base opened in April 1941, consisting of a 1,700 by 120 meters (5,580 by 390 ft) wooden runway. The second phase of construction was completed in 1944 and resulted in an array of support infrastructure and a 1,571 by 80 meters (5,154 by 262 ft) concrete runway.
  The airport was taken over by the Royal Norwegian Air Force in November 1945. It was initially proposed closed, but in 1948 it was decided that the facility should be reopened. Lista never received any permanent stationing of squadrons, instead supporting various training schools and missions. From 1951 to 1953 and important part of the air station was the shooting field Marka. Between 1955 and 1959 the base underwent a major redevelopment. Through funding from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), List was designated a full-scale reserve base. This involved the construction of a new, 2,990-meter (9,810 ft) runway and taxiway and stands for two squadrons of fighter jets, each in a designated area.
  Braathens SAFE was the first airline to operate out of Farsund Airport, Lista. Starting on 6 June 1955, Braathens SAFE started landing some of the Oslo–Stavanger planes at Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik and Farsund Airport, Lista. The route, nicknamed the "Milk Route", operated Stavanger – Farsund – Kristiansand – Tønsberg – Oslo in the morning, with a return in the evening. It was flown using the de Havilland Heron. Braathens terminated its services on 15 May 1959 when the Herons were retired. The airport did not generate sufficient patronage to support the larger successor aircraft, the Fokker F27 Friendship.
  Braathens resumed services during the 1960s, later using the Fokker F28 Fellowship. The twice-daily stopover on a Stavanger to Oslo flight was loss-bringing for Braathens, but part of their concession which secured them a monopoly on several profitable domestic services. For a period in 1977 the services were terminated when there was no fire-fighting service available at the airport. Braathens wet leased some flights from Busy Bee using a Short Skyvan, as the F28s were often too large for the services to Stavanger. The Ministry of Transport and Communications gave Braathens permission to withdraw from the Lista service at the end of the summer schedule of 1980, which the airline did.
  With Braathens' withdrawal, both Nordsjøfly and Norving skirmished to apply for a concession. Nordsjøfly was awarded the privilege. Norving bought Nordsjøfly in 1982 and incorporated it into its operations, taking over the Farsund route. Busy Bee and Norving applied to operate services from Stavanger to Sandefjord Airport, Torp and Skien Airport, Geiteryggen, respectively. Both were granted their requests, on the condition they make a stop-over at Lista. Busy Bee protested by not starting the route, while Norving started flying in May 1983 with a Cessna Conquest. The route was terminated in February 1988 when Norving pulled out of all scheduled services in Southern Norway.
  Due to the restructuring of the military in the 1990s, Parliament voted on 8 June 1994 to close Lista Air Station. Effective from 1 June 1996, the military was set to retain ownership of the facility for ten years. Parliament granted the Defence Estates Agency the right to sell the air station for market price as part of a large-scale sale of defunct military estates. The condition was that any other state or public uses be given priority and that the sale take place through an open sales process.
  Lista Airport Development was established on 16 September 1994 and it established Lista Lufthavn on 3 May 1996. In June 1996 the Defence Estates Agency signed a ten-year lease on the entire air station with the latter company for an annual rent of 10,000 Norwegian krone per year. The agency retained the responsibility to maintain the property. Lista Lufthavn received an option for the company to buy the entire
caption: Ugland Air aircraft at Lista in 1997
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