Hammerfest Airport
| Hammerfest Airport | |||
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IATA: HFT – ICAO: ENHF
 HFT
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| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Avinor | ||
| Serves | Hammerfest | ||
| Location | Hammerfest | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 799 ft / 78.9 m | ||
| Coordinates | 70°40′47″N 23°40′08″E / 70.67972°N 23.66889°E | ||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 05/23 | 2,920/2,841 | 890/866 | Asphalt |
Hammerfest Airport (IATA: HFT, ICAO: ENHF) (Norwegian: Hammerfest lufthavn) is an airport serving the town of Hammerfest in Finnmark, Norway. The airport is located north of the town centre. The airport was opened on 30 July 1974 as part of a series of regional airports in northern Norway. It is operated by Avinor. In 2007, the airport served 148,541 passengers [1], making it the third largest airport in Finnmark. Traffic increased by 8.6% by April 2007 (domestic flights: 10.1%, international flights: 5.9%), compared to an average 5.6% movements increase during the same period (domestic: 6.7%, international: 2.6%).
The airport is served by SAS Group airline Widerøe who operates flights to mainly Tromsø, which have connections onwards to Southern Norway. Widerøe operates De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 aircraft from Hammerfest. The helicopter company Norsk Helikopter also operates flights to offshore installations.
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[edit] Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Norsk Helikopter | Offshore installations |
| Widerøe | Alta, Berlevåg, Båtsfjord, Hasvik, Honningsvåg, Kirkenes, Mehamn, Sørkjosen, Tromsø, Vadsø, Vardø[2] |
[edit] Accidents and incidents
On 1 May 2005, the Widerøe Dash-8-100 airplane LN-WIK was buffeted by strong winds upon landing, and the landing gear on the right wing collapsed. While several passengers sustained injuries, there were no fatalities in the incident, but the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority imposed the strictest wind regulations in Norway upon the airport. [3]
[edit] New airport
Due to strong winds, the airport sometimes has to be closed for entire days. To allow for better regularity, local politicians have proposed building a new airport at Grøtnes, 15 km south of the city (about 70°34′N 23°43′E / 70.567°N 23.717°E). Initial plans involve building a 1,200 meter runway, allowing larger turboprops to operate. Some politicians have suggested building a 2,000 meter runway instead, one that would allow jet aircraft to operate direct flights to Oslo. A report from the Institute of Transport Economics claims the project with a longer runway would be profitable for the society—but a large cost for Avinor—and that there would be enough passengers for three daily round trips to Oslo. However, there is a certain amount of uncertainty since the petroleum industry's future demand is unknown.[4] Costs for the new airport are estimated between NOK 800 and 1,000 million, depending on the solution. Avinor has other priorities, and they do not want to prioritize Hammerfest in the near future, but it will mainly be the Norwegian government who will decide.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Avinor traffic stats.
- ^ wideroe.no
- ^ Libråten, Tone (2005-05-02). "Strictest wind regulations in the country at Hammerfest Airport" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=275857. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
- ^ Lian, Jon Inge and Thune-Larsen, Harald (2008). "Ny Hammerfest lufthavn – marked, samfunnsøkonomi og ringvirkninger" (in Norwegian) (pdf). Institute of Transport Economics. http://www.toi.no/article20065-4.html. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
- ^ "Løfter flyplassdrømmen" (in Norwegian). Finnmark Dagblad. 2009-08-20. http://www.finnmarkdagblad.no/nyheter/article4529506.ece. Retrieved 2010-03-28.
[edit] External links
Media related to Hammerfest Airport at Wikimedia Commons
- Aviation safety.net entry on the 2005 incident
- Avinor entry for Hammerfest Airport
- Avinor entry for Hammerfest Airport (Norwegian) (more detail)
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