Lakselv Airport, Banak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lakselv Airport, Banak | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: LKL – ICAO: ENNA | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Joint (Civil and Military) | ||
| Operator | Avinor | ||
| Location | Lakselv | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 8 m / 25 ft | ||
| Coordinates | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 17/35 | 2,784 | 9,134 | Asphalt, some concrete |
Lakselv Airport, Banak (IATA: LKL, ICAO: ENNA) (Norwegian: Lakselv lufthavn, Banak) is located 1,5 km from the town of Lakselv in the municipality of Porsanger in Finnmark county, Norway. Apart from Lakselv, the airport also serves Karasjok, some 74 km to the south, with corresponding airport coach six days a week. It is marketed under the name North Cape Airport (even though North Cape is 180 km away), and is owned and operated by Avinor. In 2005 the airport had 52 981 passengers.
The airport has daily connections to Tromsø, Kirkenes and Alta, operated by Widerøe, as well as international charter flights during the summer season. During the summer Scandinavian Airlines operates a seasonal connection to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. It is the northernmost airport in European mainland which has a runway long enough for jet aircraft such as Boeing 737. Longyearbyen, Svalbard is more northern with a long runway, and there are four more airports further north in Norway with short runways usable for small short-range propeller aircraft.
In conjunction with the airport is Station Group Banak, operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
Contents |
[edit] History
Banak first saw use as an airport in 1938, when the military constructed a small gravel field diagonally on today's runway, about 11/29. The original runway is still partially visible in areas with little vegetation.
During World War II the German occupying forces expanded the airport, with hangars, workshops, hospitals in addition to defence positions. The buildings and installations were destroyed during the German retreat in 1944.
After the war the airport was taken over by the Air Force, but the runway's wooden surface was cannbalised because of material shortage during the first reconstruction period in Finnmark. By 1951 the runway was unusable, and the activities ceased temporarily .
Lakselv Airport opened again in 1963 along with the other two primary airports in Finnmark, Alta Airport and Kirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen. The airport was financed through NATO and in addition to a civilian airport was host to a military air station. The airport has since been expanded several times to meet military and civilian requirements.
[edit] Airlines and destinations
[edit] Scheduled
- Scandinavian Airlines (Oslo [summer])
- Widerøe (Alta, Kirkenes, Tromsø)
[edit] Charter
[edit] Accidents and incidents
- June 29, 2005: ICP Savannah micro aircraft crashes only a few minutes after its departure from Banak, with two flight instructors onboard. Both instructors were killed in the accident.
- March 23, 1992: F-16A loses power at 18 000 feet altitude. Pilot survives after aiming the aircraft at an unpopulated area and ejecting at an altitude of 3000 feet.
- June 12, 1985: F-16B with two people on board gets control problems north of Banak. The pilot ejected and survived while one officer from Banak Air Station died.
[edit] External links
- Avinor entry for Lakselv Airport (Norwegian)
- Avinor entry for Lakselv Airport (in English, sparser information)
[edit] References
|
||||||||||||||||||||
