page_title: Trondheim Airport, Værnes
section_title: Civilian establishment
hierarchical_section_title: Trondheim Airport, Værnes / History / Civilian establishment
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of Runway 09 at Trondheim Airport, Værnes Norsk bokmål: Bilde av rullebane 09
context_page_description: Trondheim Airport, Værnes is an international airport serving Trondheim, a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is located in Værnes, a village in the municipality of Stjørdal in Trøndelag county, 10 nautical miles east of Trondheim. Operated by the state-owned Avinor, it shares facilities with Værnes Air Station of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. In 2018, the airport had 4,441,870 passengers and 58,273 air movements, making it the fourth-busiest in the country. The airport has two terminals; A dates from 1994 and is used for domestic traffic, while B is the renovated former main terminal from 1982, and is used for international traffic. The airport features a main east–west 2,999-metre runway, a disused northwest–southeast 1,472-metre runway, an integrated railway station and an airport hotel.
  The main airlines at the airport are Scandinavian Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Widerøe, for all of which Værnes is a focus city. The main route is the service to Oslo, operated by both SAS and Norwegian, which is the fifth-busiest route in Europe.
context_section_description: After World War II, there was only general aviation at Værnes, organized by two clubs, Værnes flyklubb and NTH flyklubb. From 1 August 1946 to 31 July 1947, there were 1,221 take-offs from Værnes, mostly during the summer. During parts of 1946 and 1947, the airport was used as a pasture for sheep. The first scheduled service was introduced with a Douglas DC-3 operated to Oslo by DNL during the winter of 1947–48. While there were initially many customers, the lack of sufficient deicing caused low regularity and fewer customers through the season. The route was not reopened the following year.
  The air traffic control at Værnes was established in 1946, after the air force had sent personnel to the United Kingdom for training. The Telecommunications Administration took over the responsibility for the radio installations, and the responsibility for the meteorological services became the responsibility of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Trondheim Air Traffic Control Center was also established to monitor all air space over Central Norway. In 1955, a glass dome was built on top of the control tower, giving a much better view of the air field.
  Prior to World War II, Heimdal had been proposed as a location for the primary airport for Trondheim. Construction had started with drainage and ground works, but this work was interrupted by the war. Because of the large investments made to Værnes by Luftwaffe, a commission was established in 1947 to look into if Værnes or Lade instead should be selected. The commission was unanimous in recommending Værnes, highlighting that the airport was of a sufficient size to handle all civilian and military needs in the foreseeable future, and emphasized the proximity to the railway and highway. However, the commission recommended that Heimdal and Lade be kept as possibilities for future expansion. When the issue was discussed in Parliament, several members of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications focused on the long distance to Trondheim, but the low investment needs (stipulated to NOK 1.3 million for necessary navigation and air control investments) convinced parliament, who passed legislation in favor of Værnes on 10 June 1952.
  In 1956, NATO approved the plans for Værnes to be financed through its infrastructure investment plan, after rejecting proposals for Heimdal. The costs were estimated at NOK 27.4 million and would allow the runway to be extended to support jet aircraft. Such an extension had already been done at Ørland Main Air Station, but NATO wanted to have two military air station of such dimensions in Central Norway. The east–west runway was to be extended to 2,400 metres (7,900 ft); initial proposals had called for the extension to occur on the east side, but the Ministry of Defence instead wanted the expansion of the fjord-side to reduce expropriation costs. This called for a complex civil engineering program, as the railway and highway would have to pass under the runway in tunnels and an artificial island would have to be built in the fjord and the mouth of the Stjørdal River be diverted.
  SAS moved its seaplane services to Værnes in 1952, and two-year later started flying the route from Oslo Airport, Fornebu via Trondheim to Bodø Airport using Saab 90 Scandia aircraft. The first terminal was half a 100-square-metre (1,100 sq ft) barracks located beside a military hangar. In 1956, Braathens SAFE moved its services from Lade to Værnes, making the terminal too small for the needs. The whole barracks was taken into use in 1958, doubling the area. Braathens SAFE initially served flights to Trondheim from Oslo Airport, Fornebu with stop-overs at Hamar Airport, Stafsberg, and from 1957 at Røros Airport, using de Havilland Heron aircraft. Concession for the route from Bergen via the new Ålesund Airport, Vigra to Trondheim was granted to Braathens SAFE from 1958. Braathens SAFE then also started using Fokker F-27 turboprops, at first on the Oslo-route, but later also on the West Coast route. When they were taken fully into use, the service to Hamar was terminated.
  
caption: Runway 09; the civilian terminals are located to the right (south). The runway was extended to its current length in 1961, after artificial land had been built into the fjord.
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