Lakselv Airport

Lakselv Lufthavn, Banak Stasjonsgruppe Banak
Characteristics
ICAO code	ENNA
IATA code	LKL
Coordinates	70 ° 4 '0 "  N , 24 ° 58' 26"  E Coordinates: 70 ° 4 '0 "  N , 24 ° 58' 26"  E
Height above MSL	8 m (26  ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	1.5 km north of Lakselv
Basic data
opening	1938
operator	Avinor Luftforsvaret
Terminals	1
Passengers	60,979 (2017)
Air freight	639 t (2014)
Flight movements	3,034 (2017)
Start-and runway
17/35	2788 m × 45 m asphalt / concrete

The airport Lakselv, Banak ( norw. Lakselv Lufthavn, Banak ) is a civil and military airport in Northern Norway . The Norwegian Air Force Luftforsvaret refer to their northernmost base as the Stasjonsgruppe Banak and use it as a base for rescue helicopters. It is located in the area of ​​the municipality of Porsanger near Lakselv in the province of Troms og Finnmark, around 100 km as the crow flies south of the North Cape (160 km by road).

history

In the course of the Soviet armament of the Kola Peninsula in the 1930s, a military airfield was built for the Norwegian armed forces in 1938 .

After the occupation of Norway by the German Wehrmacht , the air force used the airfield. After further expansion into an air base , bomber units attacked the Soviet Union from here and carried out attacks on Allied northern sea convoys from 1942 onwards . Banak was used for the longest time, with two interruptions between autumn 1940 and spring 1942 and the following winter, between June 1940 and October 1944 by weather research squadron 5 and from September 1943 by weather research squadron 6 (Wekusta 5 and 6). The main types of aircraft used were the Junkers Ju 88 and the Heinkel He 111 . From May 1942 to September 1943, the 1st squadron of reconnaissance group 22 (1st (F) / 22) was also located here. In May 1941, the 10th Squadron of Lehrgeschwader 1 and then Kampfgeschwader 30 (KG 30), with the II. Group (II./KG 30) from June to August 1941 and from April to September 1942, were stationed here at combat units. I./KG 30 was here from August to September 1941 and April 1942 to July 1943. From August to November 1942 the III./KG 26 was added with its Heinkel He 111 torpedo aircraft. For a short time, in October / November 1942, I./KG 60 was supposed to intervene from here but was ultimately withdrawn again. In October 1944, the II./KG 26 again brought torpedo bombers to the field before German use ended in May 1945.

The base was then initially taken over by Luftvorsvaret , but was given up again in 1952.

First considerations about a reopening were made in 1955, but the financing could not be solved at first. On May 4, 1963, the airport in Banak was finally reopened as a civilian and military airport with a budget from NATO . From here SAS headed for other airfields in Finnmark as well as Tromsø and Oslo .

The runway and the rest of the infrastructure were expanded in 1968. In order not to provoke the Soviet Union, Norway did not allow Allied military aircraft to use the Banak, which is relatively close to the border, and has been using the station as an advanced base for its own warplanes since the early 1970s. In addition, the military base has been the base of Sea King Mk.43 SAR helicopters since 1973 , which flew their first large-scale operation on April 7, 1974.

SAS Commuter took over the routes from Banak in 1990, but the direct flights to the capital were discontinued. Since then there have also been occasional charter flights . In 1992/1993 the runway was expanded to its present size.

The military reduced its presence in 1998 from an independent flight station to a station group subordinate to the main flight station in Bodø . In 2002, Widerøe finally took over the SAS flight connections.

Military use

The approximately 50-man strong station group Banak is currently (2013) administratively subordinate to the 132nd squadron at the main aerodrome in Bodø . Among other things, the group looks after a branch of the 330th Skvadron , which has been equipped with Sea King Mk.43 rescue helicopters since 1973 . In addition, the fighter planes stationed further south take off from here on training flights over the Halkkavarre firing range.

Civil use

Widerøe is the main civilian user with daily flights to Alta and Tromsø with De Havilland DHC-8 . In 2011 a good 63,000 passengers were handled.

Web links

• Official website of the civil airport (in English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Passengers 2017. (Excel (xlsx); 28 KB) In: avinor.no. Avinor , accessed September 14, 2018 (Norwegian / English). 
2. ↑ Frakt og Post 2014. (Excel (xlsx); 22 KB) In: avinor.no. Avinor , accessed September 14, 2018 (Norwegian / English). 
3. ↑ Flight movements 2017. (Excel (xlsx); 66 KB) In: avinor.no. Avinor , accessed September 14, 2018 (Norwegian / English). 
4. ↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Luftwaffe Airfields 1935–45 Norway , pp. 3–5 , accessed on May 16, 2019.