Military establishment

Værnes is first recorded in the tenth century as the seat for one of eight chieftains in Trøndelag. The first military activity in the area was as a base for leidang. After the Viking Age, the farm at Værnes was taken over by the king and became the seat of the vogt. From 1671, the farm was owned by a series of military officers and public servants. In 1887, the farm was bought by the Royal Norwegian Army and converted to a camp. The first aircraft to use Værnes was a military Farman MF.7 Longhorn, which took off on 26 March 1914. It was part of the plan to establish the Norwegian Army Air Service, for which Værnes was chosen as the initial station for Central Norway. Radio equipment was installed in 1919 and the first hangar was built in 1920. By 1922, the grass field serving as runway has become insufficient for newer planes, both in terms of length and level, but an extension was not performed until 1925. In 1927, parliament passed legislation to move the division to Rinnleiret from 1930, but this was later annulled. With the delivery of Fokker aircraft in 1930, the runway was again upgraded and extended.

Værnes was surrendered to Luftwaffe on 9 April 1940, during the German occupation of Norway. On 24 April 350 civilians started construction at Værnes, and within a few days 2,000 people were hired. On 28 April, a new 800 metres (2,600 ft) wooden runway was completed. The expansion was part of the plans for Festung Norwegen and was used as a bomber base for attacks on Northern Norway. By May, there were 200 aircraft stationed at Værnes. During the war, particularly in April 1940, the airport was subject to several bombings from the Royal Air Force (RAF). In June, work was started to clear the forests near the airport, and graves from the Viking Age were found. Construction was halted for several weeks while German and Norwegian archaeologists conducted research. In July, work started on building concrete runways, and by 1942 all three runways were finished. The east–west was made 1,620 metres (5,310 ft) long, the north–south was made 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) while the northwest–southeast was made 1,275 metres (4,183 ft) long. A number of taxiways were also constructed and a branch line of the railway was built to the hangars. By 1945, Luftwaffe had built about 100 buildings at Værnes. The land expropriated was estimated at between 1.6 and 3.0 square kilometres (0.62 and 1.16 sq mi). Luftwaffe had also finished the control tower that had been under construction since 1939.

After the war ended, the airport was initial taken over by 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 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.

Previous airports

Civilian aviation in Trøndelag started in 1937, when Norwegian Air Lines (DNL) started seaplane services from Ilsvika and Jonsvatnet. These were terminated during World War II, but taken up again by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Norwegian Air Force during the summer of 1945. They were terminated in November due to the weather and RAF's withdrawal. The following year, DNL started services again, this time from Hommelvik. During winter, the route was not operated. The service was operated with a Short Sandringham flying boat to Oslo and Northern Norway, and a Junkers Ju 52 to Western Norway. The southbound and northbound Sandringhams and the Junkers all met at Hommelvik to exchange passengers. There was only room for two planes at the quay, so the third aircraft had to be anchored in the fjord. In 1947, the airport had 3,500 passengers. On 2 October 1948, the Bukken Bruse Short Sandringham crashed on landing, killing 19 people. In 1949, a reserve airport was built at Skogn, and people were transported from Hommelvik to Skogn along the Nordland Line in case the reserve airport was used. DNL became part of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) in 1951—the last year it used Hommelvik. Vestlandske Luftfartsselskap continued to use Hommelvik for an additional year. Braathens SAFE started their route from Oslo Airport, Fornebu via Hamar Airport, Stafsberg and Røros Airport on 18 August 1953. However, they chose to operate their de Havilland Herons from Trondheim Airport, Lade, just a few kilometers outside of the city center, in days with clear weather. Braathens SAFE moved all services to Værnes in 1956.

Civilian establishment

After World War II, there was only general aviation at Værnes, organized by two clubs, Værnes flyklubb and NTH flyklubb. From 1 August 1946 to 31 July 1947, there were 1,221 take-offs from Værnes, mostly during the summer. During parts of 1946 and 1947, the airport was used as a pasture for sheep. The first scheduled service was introduced with a Douglas DC-3 operated to Oslo by DNL during the winter of 1947–48.