Ørsta–Volda Airport
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Ørsta–Volda Airport (; ) is a
regional airport A domestic airport is an airport that handles only flights within the same country. Domestic airports do not have customs and immigration facilities and so cannot handle flights to or from a foreign airport. These airports often have short r ...
situated at Hovden ( Hovdebygda), in
Ørsta Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region of Western Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Ørsta (v ...
in
Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...
county,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, midway between the urban villages
Ørsta Ørsta may refer to: Places * Ørsta (village), an urban village area within Ørsta Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway *Ørsta Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, ...
and Volda (village)">Volda Volda may refer to: Places *Volda Municipality Volda is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre i ...
. The airport features a asphalt runway aligned 06/24. Services are provided by Widerøe using their de Havilland Canada Dash 8 as a public service obligation. Owned and operated by the state-owned
Avinor Avinor AS is a state-owned aksjeselskap, limited company that operates most of the civil airports in Norway. The Norwegian state, via the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications, controls 100 percent of the share capital. Avinor wa ...
, the airport handled 121,021 passengers in 2014. Hovden opened on 1 July 1971 as a municipal airport having cost 5.9 million
Norwegian krone The krone (, currency sign, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); ISO 4217, code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is the currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including List of possessions of Norway, overseas territories and dependencies). It was t ...
(NOK). Until 1993 Widerøe served it using the
de Havilland Canada Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking Ai ...
as a feeder service to
Ålesund Airport, Vigra Ålesund Airport (, ), or alternatively Ålesund Vigra Airport, is an international airport serving the Ålesund (town), town of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the Vigra (island), island of Vigra in Giske Municipali ...
. The
de Havilland Canada Dash 7 The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with short take-off and landing (STOL) performance. Variants were built with 50–54 seats. It first flew in 1975 and remained in producti ...
was used from 1985 to 1987. During the early years, the airport had very poor regularity and was proposed closed. Terminal upgrades were carried out in 1988 and the runway extended in the early 2000s. Since the 2008 opening of the
Eiksund Tunnel The Eiksund tunnel () is an undersea tunnel in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, which runs under the Vartdalsfjorden connecting the municipalities of Ørsta and Ulstein. The tunnel is long and reaches a depth of below sea level, and was the d ...
and the 2012 opening of the Kviven Tunnel, Hovden has significantly increased its
catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...
and now covers a population of 60,000 in southern
Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...
and
Nordfjord Nordfjord (—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises Stad Muni ...
. This had led to a tripling of ridership.


History

The first aviation in Volda took place in 1935 when Gidsken Jakobsen demonstrated flights. The first airport in Sunnmøre and Møre og Romsdal was Ålesund Airport, Vigra, which opened on 7 June 1958. For the southern parts of Sunnmøre, the airport incurred a travel time of two to three hours, including two ferries.Olsen-Hagen: 8
Møre og Romsdal Fylkesbåtar Fjord1 MRF formerly called Møre og Romsdal Fylkesbåtar, short form MRF is a regional Norwegian transportation company, part of the Fjord1 Nordvestlandske group. The company headquarters are in Molde. MRF is Norway's largest car ferry company. ...
introduced a
hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...
service from Ørsta via
Hareid Hareid may refer to: Places *Hareid Municipality, a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway *Hareid (village), a village within Hareid Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway *Hareid Church, a church in Hareid Municipality in Møre ...
to Ålesund and Vigra in April 1965. Travel time from Ørsta to the airport was 50 minutes. By the time of the fall storms the authorities withdrew the operating certificate due to safety concerns. Following a 1962 government commission investigating the construction of new airports, Widerøe launched an alternative proposal and suggested that a network of smaller airports be built instead. These could be served using short take-off and landing aircraft, which were being developed at the time. Smaller airports could be built and operated at lower cost than larger airports, but both airports and airlines would need subsidies to operate.
Håkon Kyllingmark Håkon Olai Kyllingmark (19 January 1915 – 12 August 2003) was a Norwegian military officer and businessman. He served as a politician for the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Party and was elected to the Norwegian Parliament. Biograp ...
was appointed Minister of Transport and Communications in 1965 and was a proponent of the STOLport proposal. The political rationale was that, despite that the total operating costs would rise, it would provide better services to rural areas and thus keep up their population. The regional airports only received a simple terminal and an runway. The first such airports were opened in
Helgeland Helgeland is the most southerly Districts of Norway, district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. It is bordered in the north by the Saltfjellet moun ...
in 1968. Planning in Ørsta and Volda commenced in February 1968, with the appointment of an inter-municipal commission. It concluded that a side on the shore of Hovdentjønna, a small lake, was a suitable site. It was estimated to cost NOK 1.5 million. The plans were approved by
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
on 12 June 1969. In addition to Ørsta–Volda, these consisted of
Førde Airport, Øyrane Førde Airport, Øyrane (; ) was a regional airport located at Øyrane in Førde, Norway. The municipal airport first opened as a water aerodrome, receiving a runway in 1970. Scheduled services started the following year, with Widerøe providing ...
; Florø Airport and
Sogndal Airport, Haukåsen Sogndal Airport (; ) is a regional airport serving Sogndal Municipality and the surrounding area in Vestland, Norway. It is situated at Haukåsen, from Kaupanger and from Sogndalsfjøra. It serves the whole Sogn district. The airport consists of ...
.Olsen-Hagen: 9 The time until completion was set to two years and the responsibility was placed with the municipalities. The municipal councils approved the plans in early 1970 and an operating concession was granted by the government on 3 July. Construction was placed under the auspice of a committee with three representatives from each municipality and a representative from
Møre og Romsdal County Municipality Møre og Romsdal County Municipality () is the democratically elected regional governing administration of Møre og Romsdal county in western Norway. The main responsibilities of the county municipality includes the running of 23 upper secondar ...
. The airport originally consisted of an runway and an apron measuring . Navigation was provided by two
radio beacon In navigation, a radio beacon or radiobeacon is a kind of beacon, a device that marks a fixed location and allows direction finding, direction-finding equipment to find relative Bearing (navigation), bearing. But instead of employing visible lig ...
s. Of the investment of NOK 5.3 million, the Ministry of Transport and Communications granted 2.97 million, the county 0.5 million and the remaining 1.8 million was loan. Operating costs were covered by the two municipalities in the ratio of their population, initially nine sixteenth for Ørsta and seven sixteenths for Volda. The airport was run by an inter-municipal board and subordinate to the municipal engineer in Ørsta. The four airports opened on 1 July 1971.Olsen-Hagen: 10 Ørsta–Volda Airport was one of three airports in Møre og Romsdal to open within two years.
Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget Kristiansund Airport (; ) is an international airport serving the town of Kristiansund (town), Kristiansund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is situated at Kvernberget on the island of Nordlandet in Kristiansund Municipality. It is the sole ...
opened on 30 June 1970 and
Molde Airport, Årø Molde Airport (; ) is an international airport serving the town of Molde in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is on the shore of the Moldefjord at Årø, east of town center. The airport's catchment area covers the distri ...
opened on 5 April 1972. This led to a dramatic reduction in services out of Vigra. The original service from Hovden was a feeder service to Vigra operated by Widerøe with their 19-seat Twin Otters. In the first full year of operation the airport handled 8,835 passengers. During the first years the airport had notoriously poor regularity, and in the last quarter of 1972 half the flights were canceled. A contribution was the high
runway visual range In aviation, the runway visual range (RVR) is the distance over which a pilot of an aircraft on the centreline of the runway can see the runway surface markings delineating the runway or the lights delineating the runway or identifying its centre ...
. There were discussions of closing Hovden and
Sandane Airport, Anda Sandane Airport (; ) is a regional airport serving the village of Sandane in Vestland county, Norway. It perpendicularly straddles the Anda peninsula in Gloppen Municipality between the Nordfjorden (Vestland), Nordfjorden and Gloppefjorden. The ai ...
and replacing them with an airport at Markane in
Stryn Stryn is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Counties of Norway, county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Nordfjord. The administrative center of the municipality is the vi ...
, although this was never carried out. Widerøe introduced the 50-passenger
de Havilland Canada Dash 7 The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with short take-off and landing (STOL) performance. Variants were built with 50–54 seats. It first flew in 1975 and remained in producti ...
on some routes between 1985 and 1988. There were 18,138 passengers in 1985 and 24,150 two years later. This and the use of the Dash 7 caused the terminal to be upgraded in 1988. New navigational aids were installed in 1987, including a localizer and a new radio beacon, lowering the visual range to . Further improvements were made with the new runway lighting in 1989.Olsen-Hagen: 11 The Twin Otters were in 1993 replaced with Dash 8-100s. With this the flights to Ã…lesund were terminated and instead flights to
Oslo Airport, Fornebu Oslo Airport, Fornebu was the primary international airport serving Oslo and Eastern Norway from 1 June 1939 to 7 October 1998. It was then replaced by Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, and the area has since been redeveloped. The airport was located at ...
and
Bergen Airport, Flesland Bergen Airport (; ), alternatively Bergen Flesland Airport or simply Flesland Airport, is an international airport located at Flesland in the city and municipality of Bergen, Vestland, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport i ...
were introduced. From 1997 Widerøe built a hangar at Hovden, allowing it to have a night stop there. This further helped regularity.Olsen-Hagen: 12 Ownership of the airport passed to the Civil Aviation Administration (later renamed Avinor) on 1 January 1997. The runway was extended in both directions in the early 2000s.
Airport security Airport security includes the techniques and methods used in an attempt to protect passengers, staff, aircraft, and airport property from malicious harm, crime, terrorism, and other threats. Aviation security is a combination of measures and hum ...
was introduced on 1 January 2005. Hovden saw 51,000 passengers in 2008. With the opening of the
Eiksund Tunnel The Eiksund tunnel () is an undersea tunnel in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, which runs under the Vartdalsfjorden connecting the municipalities of Ørsta and Ulstein. The tunnel is long and reaches a depth of below sea level, and was the d ...
that year
Ulstein Ulstein may refer to: Business *Ulstein Group, a group of various marine-related industries, mainly known for shipbuilding and design *Ulstein Verft, a Norwegian shipyard Places *Ulstein Municipality, a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Nor ...
, Herøy and
Hareid Hareid may refer to: Places *Hareid Municipality, a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway *Hareid (village), a village within Hareid Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway *Hareid Church, a church in Hareid Municipality in Møre ...
were all given a
fixed link A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somet ...
to the airport. This gave a large increase in use of the airport, hitting 100,000 passengers in 2011. The 2012 opening of the Kviv Tunnel brought the airport even closer to
Nordfjord Nordfjord (—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises Stad Muni ...
and Hovden started capturing patronage from Sandane Airport, Anda. This has been sufficient for Avinor to consider the closing of Anda. Combined these two road projects have tripled the airport's catchment area.


Facilities

Ørsta–Volda Airport is situated in Hovebygda in Ørsta, Norway. Its
catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...
covers the southern parts of
Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...
and parts of
Nordfjord Nordfjord (—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises Stad Muni ...
. It has a reference elevation of 74 meters (243 ft)
above mean sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
. The asphalt runway physically measures and is aligned 06/24. It has a takeoff run available (TORA) of on runway 06 and on runway 24, and a landing distance available (LDA) of . The airport is equipped with category 4 fire and rescue service. There are 16 Avinor employees at the airport, consisting of five in the aerodrome flight information service and nine in the ground services.


Airlines and destinations

All services at the airport are operated by Widerøe with their fleet of de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 aircraft. These are public service obligations subsidized by the Ministry of Transport and Communications. There are five daily flights to
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
and two daily services to
Sogndal Sogndal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansv ...
, some of which continue to
Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...
. There is a weekly flight to
Florø is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kinn which is in Vestland county, Norway. The town was founded by royal decree in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjord ...
. Operation of the airport ran at a deficit of NOK 22 million in 2012. In addition the routes are subsidized at a cost of NOK 279 per passenger. Hovden served 121,021 passengers, 6,294 aircraft movements and handled 2 tonnes of cargo.


Statistics


Ground transport

Fram operates a local bus service between Ørsta and Volda every half-hour during the day and every hour during the evening. It stops at a bus stop seven minutes walk from the airport terminal. Paid parking, taxis and car rental are available at the airport. The airport is situated on the E39, five minutes driving from both Ørsta and Volda.


References


Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oersta-Volda Airport, Hovden Airports in Møre og Romsdal Avinor airports Ørsta Volda 1971 establishments in Norway Airports established in 1971