The first air route along the coast of western Norway between Bergen and Tromsø started June 7, 1935 using seaplanes with three weekly departures and stop overs in Ålesund, Molde, Kristiansund, Trondheim, Brønnøysund, Sandnessjøen, Bodø, Narvik and Harstad. Det Norske Luftfartsselskap (DNL) had exclusive rights for the route and initially flew it using a Junkers W 34 with floats called "Ternen". It soon became clear that the W 34 was too small and Summer 1936 DNL upgraded to a larger Junkers Ju 52 with floats. All flights were put on hold in 1940 during the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. After the war DNL restarted the coastal route using the same equipment. Widerøe later took over the local coastal routes.

Since the float planes could only be operated during daylight and in good weather, a more stable air transport solution was deemed necessary as the volume of traffic steadily grew. The nearest airport was in Bodø, 5-6 hours drive with a ferry. To try out a new concept of regional airports, four towns along the Helgeland coast got airports in 1968 (Sandnessjøen, Namsos, Brønnøysund and Mo i Rana). July 1, 1968 Widerøe, having exclusive rights, started the Helgeland route with stop overs at all four towns between Trondheim and Bodø. The route was originally flown using Twin Otters.

In 2014 the runway was extended from 1086 to 1409 metres ("Takeoff Run Available" from 931 to 1199).