Longyearbyen Airport

Svalbard lufthavn, Longyear;
Characteristics
ICAO code	ENSB
IATA code	LYR
Coordinates	78 ° 14 '43 " N , 15 ° 28' 57" E Coordinates: 78 ° 14 '43 " N , 15 ° 28' 57" E
Height above MSL	10 m (33 ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	5 km northwest of Longyearbyen
Basic data
opening	1975
operator	Avinor
Passengers	169,278 (2017)
Air freight	317 t (2014)
Flight ; movements	5,127 (2017)
Start-and runway
10/28	2480 m × 45 m asphalt

The Svalbard lufthavn, Longyear ( IATA code : LYR , ICAO code : ENSB ) is the largest airport of Spitsbergen and the entire archipelago Svalbard . It is located five kilometers northwest of the town of Longyearbyen and is operated by Avinor AS .

history

The Svalbard Treaty states that no military installations are permitted on the archipelago . The Soviet Union feared that a permanent civil airport could also be used by Norwegian and NATO forces. However, since they also needed an airport to reach and supply their settlements in Barentsburg and Pyramiden, an agreement was reached between the two countries in the early 1970s.

Construction of the airport began in 1973. The official opening took place on September 2, 1975. Due to the permafrost , the asphalt runway had to be insulated from the layers of soil underneath to prevent thawing in summer. The buildings were erected on pillars that are embedded in the permafrost soil. The runway was repeatedly damaged by frost breakouts and therefore had to be repaired regularly. In 1989, the problem areas of the runway with the most frost damage were provided with improved insulation from the permafrost layer. In 2006, this measure was also carried out on the remaining sections of the runway. The airport had to be closed briefly to carry out the work. The expansion of the terminal to increase passenger capacity was completed when it opened on December 10, 2007. The airport currently has the status of the northernmost commercial airport in the world.

use

The airport seen from the southwest

Aerial view of the airport in summer from the west

Airport apron

SAS Scandinavian Airlines is the main local airline and flies daily to Tromsø and Oslo in summer . In winter there are several connections a week to Oslo (via Tromsø or twice a week direct). The Norwegian low- cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle has already flown to the airport in the past and has been connecting Longyearbyen with Oslo again since March 2013. Occasionally there are summer flights to the North Pole or the northern pack ice, as well as charter flights to Longyearbyen. There are also regular flights to Svea and Ny-Ålesund , but these are mostly only available to mine workers or research teams. Barentsburg can only be reached by helicopter or ship in summer and by snowmobile in winter. There is no paved road. The airfield is a popular destination for ambitious private pilots.

Distance signs at Longyearbyen Airport

The airport is used by more than 165,000 passengers annually. The number of passengers continues to grow as more and more people move to the island and various cruise operators change passengers here. The supply of the island depends largely on the airport.

Airlines and their destinations

Airlines	aims
	Seasonal charter flights: Copenhagen
Arktikugol	Barentsburg , Pyramiden Seasonal charter flights: Moscow
	Ny-Ålesund , Svea
	Seasonal charter flights: Moscow
	Oslo
	Oslo, Tromso
	Seasonal charter flights: Zurich

Incidents

On October 10, 1986, a Cessna 185 from Antarctex AS ( aircraft registration LN-RTA ) equipped with a ski landing gear crashed shortly after take-off. The flight was planned to Ny-Ålesund airfield. All six occupants, five female passengers and the pilot, were killed.

On August 29, 1996, a Russian Tupolev Tu-154M (RA-85621) flew into a hill near the airport while approaching the airport. The Vnukovo Airlines machine was en route from Moscow to Longyearbyen and had Ukrainian miners on board. At a height of around 900 m, the plane hit the Operafjellet (German: Operberg) 14 km from the airport, killing all 141 occupants. The reasons for the accident were, among other things, confusion in the cockpit, deviations from several regulations and poor English skills of the flight crew.

Web links

Commons : Svalbard Airport, Longyear - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Svalbard Airport on Avinor's website (English, Norwegian).

Individual evidence

↑ Passengers 2017. (Excel (xlsx); 28 KB) In: avinor.no. Avinor , accessed September 14, 2018 (Norwegian / English).
↑ Frakt og Post 2014. (Excel (xlsx); 22 KB) In: avinor.no. Avinor , accessed September 14, 2018 (Norwegian / English).
↑ Flight movements 2017. (Excel (xlsx); 66 KB) In: avinor.no. Avinor , accessed September 14, 2018 (Norwegian / English).
↑ Accident report Cessna 185 LN-RTA , Aviation Safety Network WikiBase (English), accessed on August 22, 2020.
^ Accident report TU-154 RA-85621 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on May 14, 2017.

[pstats-1] Passengers 2017. (Excel (xlsx); 28 KB) In: avinor.no. Avinor , accessed September 14, 2018 (Norwegian / English).

[cstats-2] Frakt og Post 2014. (Excel (xlsx); 22 KB) In: avinor.no. Avinor , accessed September 14, 2018 (Norwegian / English).

[mstats-3] Flight movements 2017. (Excel (xlsx); 66 KB) In: avinor.no. Avinor , accessed September 14, 2018 (Norwegian / English).

[4] Accident report Cessna 185 LN-RTA , Aviation Safety Network WikiBase (English), accessed on August 22, 2020.

[5] Accident report TU-154 RA-85621 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on May 14, 2017.