Construction

The first aircraft to land in Sør-Varanger was part of a trial undertaken in 1922 by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service to test the flight time from Horten to Kirkenes. The mission was awarded to Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen and Finn Lützow-Holm, who chose to fly the 45-hour trip along the coast. The next landing was a military Fokker which landed on the iced lake of Andrevann in 1934. Widerøe undertook several flights within the municipality in 1937, offering sightseeing and undertaking aerial photography. The first scheduled service started to Kirkenes the following summer with postal flights to Tromsø flown by Widerøe on behalf of Norwegian Air Lines (DNL). The flight allowed post to be sent from Oslo to Kirkenes in one day and was continued the next season. The route was flown from Tromsø with intermediate stops at Vadsø and Hammerfest. There were public demands for passenger services be started.

Instead, in 1940 the German occupation of Norway terminated all civilian aviation until 1945. A limited service was kept in Northern Norway during the resistance, but these were terminated after the German forces took control of the whole country. From 26 September 1940, three weekly services were operated from Trondheim to Tromsø, with two of these continuing to Kirkenes, using a 16-passenger Junkers Ju 52. This was terminated on 20 March 1941, after most of the airline's pilots had fled to the United Kingdom to support the Allied forces.

Høybuktmoen was selected by the Luftwaffe as one of three air stations in Northern Norway, along with Bardufoss Airport and Lakselv Airport, Banak. They built two runways, 1,000 and 1,200 meters (3,300 and 3,900 ft) long, respectively. Høybuktmoen was primarily used for attacks against the Arctic convoys. With the German withdrawal in Operation Nordlicht in October 1944, the runways were blasted at several points. The damage proved easy to repair and by January 1945, both troops of Norwegian police officers from Sweden led by Bernt Balchen and the Soviet Air Forces could land at Høybuktmoen.

Reopening

The first service after the war was started by DNL on 13 October 1945 and flew to Tromsø, with onwards connection to Trondheim and Oslo. The service only lasted until 1948, when it was replaced with a Ju 52 seaplane route with intermediate stops at Vadsø and Hammerfest to Tromsø. The route flew one direction each day, was only operated during the summer and was plagued with poor regularity. The original water aerodrome was located at Soldatbukta at Prestøya. Later it was moved to the quay on the north side of Langfjorden, on the other side as Kirkenes. Passengers were therefore freighted across the fjord by boat to the aircraft. The air traffic control moved from Høybuktmoen to Haganes in 1949, but returned in 1963.

The route had doubled its patronage since its introduction by 1953—the last year it was operated by DNL. From 1954 the route was taken over by Widerøe, who introduced smaller Noorduyn Norseman and de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter aircraft. The Widerøe seaplane service was flown on behalf of DNL and later Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and remained until 1963. Varangfly—based in Kirkenes—was established in 1959 by general aviation enthusiasts from Kirkenes Flyklubb. The airline originally had two seaplanes, a two-seat Piper J-3 Cub and a five-seat Norsk Flyindustri C-5 Polar. Operations started on 17 June 1960. The company gradually developed services within scheduled, charter and air ambulance services. Varangfly later also bought an eight-seat aircraft which offered flights to Lakselv and Bardufoss, and to Ivalo Airport in Finland, where it connected to Finnair's service to Helsinki.

Planning for a new airport at Høybunktmoen was initiated by a committee established by the Ministry of Transport and Communications in 1947, and resulted in the National Plan of 1952. Although Kirkenes was included in the plan construction was placed on hold, both because of high costs and because other airports further south had to be completed before or at the same time. Construction at Høybuktmoen started in 1961 and the airport opened on 4 May 1963. Work consisted of expanding the east–west runway to 1,600 meters (5,200 ft) and building a new passenger terminal and control tower; the latter two were not completed in time for the opening. Alta Airport and Lakselv Airport, Banak opened the same year, and Tromsø Airport followed suit the following year.

Operational history

SAS introduced the 52-passenger Convair Metropolitan on their domestic services, while Finnair served the airport with the 30-seat Douglas DC-3 on their flights to Finland. In the first month the two airlines had 88 aircraft movements, while the Royal Norwegian Air Force had 44 and Varangfly 60. Both SAS and Finnair replaced Varangfly's routes, which did not operate scheduled flights from the new airport. Varangfly therefore sold its land aircraft and instead became a seaplane operator. SAS introduced the 122-passenger Douglas DC-9 jet aircraft at Kirkenes from 1969. Helikopter Service flew a civilian helicopter to Høybuktmoen for the first time the same year.