Trondheim Airport, Værnes

Infobox Airport
name = Trondheim Airport, Værnes
nativename = Trondheim lufthavn, Værnes
nativename-r =

|104px
image-width = 104

---

IATA = TRD
ICAO = ENVA
type = Public
operator = Avinor
city-served = Trondheim, Norway
location = Stjørdal, Norway
elevation-f = 56
elevation-m = 17
coordinates = coord|63|27|27|N|10|56|23|E|type:airport
website = [http://www.avinor.no/Norsk/English/Airports/Trondheim_Airport,_Varnes/ Official Website]
r1-number = 09/27
r1-length-f = 9,052
r1-length-m = 2,759
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 13/31
CLOSED
r2-length-f = 4,771
r2-length-m = 1,454
r2-surface = Asphalt
stat-year = 2007
stat1-header = Passengers
stat1-data = 3,406,281
stat2-header = Air movements
stat2-data = 54,954
footnotes =

Trondheim Airport, Værnes airport codes|TRD|ENVA (Norwegian: Trondheim lufthavn, Værnes) is located in Stjørdal, Nord-Trøndelag, approximately 35 km east of Trondheim. This is a regional airport, serving Sør-Trøndelag and Nord-Trøndelag counties. In addition, it also serves as a hub for the southern part of Nordland county. It is owned and operated by Avinor in conjunction with the Royal Norwegian Air Force.

Værnes is the fourth largest airport in Norway, and had 54,954 civil air movement and 3,406,281 passengers in 2007. Scheduled domestic flights are offered by four airlines to 16 destinations, while four operators offer 13 international destinations, including daily flights to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London and Stockholm. Charter operators offer 12 additional destinations on regular basis. Værnes is a hub for regional airports in northern Nord-Trøndelag and southern Nordland, with numerous flights using Dash 8 aircraft operated by Widerøe. The most important route is the route to Oslo, with about 33 daily flights with Boeing 737 aircraft. This route is the ninth largest route in Europe. [http://www.boarding.no/art.asp?id=24013 (in Norwegian)]

The airport has two terminals. Domestic terminal A was opened in 1994, and is equipped with skybridges. The old main terminal, opened in 1982, has been renamed terminal B and is used for international flights. It has now been renovated including a new larger duty free store.

Transport to Trondheim is by taxi, car, bus or train, all taking approximately 30 minutes. The rail service has northbound and southbound departures every hour with the commuter train Trønderbanen. Værnes was the first airport in Northern Europe to have a railway station in the terminal, located between Hell and Stjørdal on Nordlandsbanen. The highways E6 and E14 go past the airport. Taxi 24/7, and Airport Express Coaches go to the hotels in downtown Trondheim every 15 minutes (30 minutes on Saturdays).

The Norwegian Home Guard base for the Trøndelag district is connected to the airport. This is why the airport is large for a city of that size, as it was built during the Cold War to allow NATO military personnel to pass through to their forward deployed equipment stores, in case of war with the Soviet Union.

Airlines and destinations

Domestic destinations

* Helitrans (Kristiansund)
* Norwegian Air Shuttle (Bergen, Bodø, Oslo, Rygge, Tromsø)
* Scandinavian Airlines (Bergen, Bodø, Molde, Oslo, Stavanger, Tromsø, Ålesund)
* Widerøe: (Bodø, Brønnøysund, Harstad/Narvik, Mo i Rana, Mosjøen, Namsos, Rørvik, Sandefjord, Sandnessjøen)

International destinations

*KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam)
*Norwegian Air Shuttle (Alicante, Dubrovnik [summer] , London-Stansted, Malaga, Murcia, Nice, Prague, Riga, Salzburg, Split, Warsaw)
*Scandinavian Airlines (Alicante, Stockholm-Arlanda)
*Widerøe (Copenhagen)

Charter destinations

*Air Europa (Palma de Mallorca)
*Air Via (Burgas)
*BH Air (Burgas)
*EuroCypria (Larnaca)
*Norwegian Air Shuttle (Split)
*Novair (Chania)
*Pegasus Airlines (Antalya)
*Scandinavian Airlines (Alicante, Burgas, Chania, Heraklion, Rhodos, Santorini, Split)
*Spanair (Palma de Mallorca)
*SunExpress (Antalya)
*Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia (Antalya, Chania, Rhodos, Varna)

History

Military activity at Værnes started in 1887 when the Norwegian military bought Værnes farm and converted it to an army camp. On 26 March 1914 the first plane took off, a military Maurice Farman MF-7 "Longhorn". The first three permanent planes were stationed in 1919, in 1920 the first hangar was built, and in 1922 radio equipment was installed.

During the Second World War, on 9 April 1940 the German invasion forces occupied Norway and the Luftwaffe occupied Værnes with little resistance. Before the Germans arrived at Værnes the airport served as a mobilisation point in the first hours of the Norwegian Campaign, allowing the future garrison of Hegra Fortress to be equipped. The Germans forces started improving the airport, helped by thousands of Norwegian workers, within weeks having built a new runway. This new runway was used by the Germans to more effectively bomb the Norwegian and Allied forces on the Narvik front. By 1942 they had constructed three concrete runways, the longest 1 620 meters, and multiple hangars, bunkers and anti-aircraft artillery, totalling more than 100 buildings. There were probably at the most 2,000 German soldiers and 2,000 Norwegian labourers at Værnes during World War II. After the German capitulation on 8 May 1945 the Luftwaffe withdrew from Værnes.

After World War II the airport was left to the Royal Air Force, but they soon withdrew leaving the Norwegian military in charge. Numerous squadrons, including 332, 331 and 337 were stationed at Værnes in the post-war years. In 1952 the Royal Norwegian Air Force Pilot School was moved to Værnes, but in 1954 Ørland Main Air Station became the main air force base in Central Norway, and the majority of the armed air forces (with the exception of the school) moved to Ørland.

While Heimdal was the desired place for the civilian airport in Trøndelag, Norwegian authorities decided in 1951 to build a civilian airport at Værnes. NATO contributed towards the construction of the military part of the airport. The new airport was finished on 21 October 1961.

Before the war, Det Norske Luftfartsselskap (DNL, Scandinavian Airline Systems' predecessor) had been flying sea plane routes to Ilsvika and Jonsvannet with Junkers 52s. After the war DNL moved its operations to Hommelvika Harbor. In 1947/48 DNL tried flights to Oslo with Douglas DC-3 Dakotas, but it was not until 1952 that SAS started flights to Værnes again. Braathens SAFE started flying to the grass runway at Lade in 1953, but moved to Værnes in 1956.

A new terminal building was built in 1965, but soon there were capacity problems, mainly because of new charter flights to Southern Europe. At the end of the 1970s a new taxiway was built, and in 1982 a new terminal was completed. But it was also too small and a new Terminal A was opened in 1994, along with another taxiway in 1999. International flights now operate from the old terminal, now called Terminal B, renovated in 2006. A new tower (the second highest control tower in Norway) came into use in 2005.

After decades long services between Værnes and Oslo by SAS and Braathens SAFE, low-cost carrier Color Air started flying the route in 1998. This led to a fierce price war, and up to 50 daily flights between the two airports, making the route one of the ten most trafficked routes in Europe. But Color Air went bankrupt, and later Braathens was bought by SAS and merged to SAS Braathens. In 2003 Norwegian Air Shuttle started competing on the same route.

Ground transport

Infobox Norwegian station
name = Trondheim Airport Station


caption =
locale = Værnes
municipality = Stjørdal
line = Nordlandsbanen
distance =
elevation =
coordinates =
start = 1994
architect =
owner =
operator = Norges Statsbaner
iata = TRD
t-bane =
line1 =
line2 =
line3 =
line4 =
line5 =
line6 =
airport = Trondheim Airport, Værnes
tram =
bus = |

Northern Europe's first integrated railway station in the terminal, Trondheim Airport Station, was completed in 1994 and allows for undercover passage from the aircraft to the train. Located between Stjørdal and Hell on Nordlandsbanen, the airport is served by commuter trains northwards to Innherred and southwards to Trondheim, with an hourly service. In addition, express trains operate northwards to Nordland, including night trains.

The Airport Express Coaches operate four times hourly to Downtown Trondheim (twice hourly on Saturdays), stopping at most major hotels, the train station and the bus station. There are also some express buses operated by NOR-WAY Bussekspress northbound to Namsos.

The highways E6 and E14 pass the airport. The E6 and the railway are in tunnels under the runway. The airport has 3000 parking places, both indoor and outdoor. Car rental is available from Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and National. Taxis are available.

Nsb next line
line=Nordlandsbanen
prestation=Hell
poststation=StjørdalNsb next express
bodø=yes
prebodø=Trondheim S
postbodø=StjørdalNsb next local
line=Trønderbanen
prestation=Hell
poststation=Stjørdal

ee also

*List of the largest airports in the Nordic countries

External links

* [http://www.avinor.no/en/airport/trondheim Official website]
*

References

*Tjomsland, Audun and Wilsberg, Kjell (1999) "Braathens SAFE 50 år: Mot alle odds", Oslo, ISBN 82-990400-1-9