Harstad/Narvik Airport, Evenes
Introduction


**Harstad/Narvik Airport** (; ) is an [international airport](/wiki/International_airport "International airport") located in [Evenes Municipality](/wiki/Evenes_Municipality "Evenes Municipality") in [Nordland](/wiki/Nordland "Nordland") county, [Norway](/wiki/Norway "Norway"). The airport serves the towns of [Harstad](/wiki/Harstad_%28town%29 "Harstad (town)") and [Narvik](/wiki/Narvik_%28town%29 "Narvik (town)"). It is co\-located with [Evenes Air Station](/wiki/Evenes_Air_Station "Evenes Air Station") of the [Royal Norwegian Air Force](/wiki/Royal_Norwegian_Air_Force "Royal Norwegian Air Force"). The civilian sector is owned and operated by the state\-owned [Avinor](/wiki/Avinor "Avinor") and handled 654,977 passengers in 2013\. Evenes has a  runway, a parallel [taxiway](/wiki/Taxiway "Taxiway") and a terminal with five gates. The airlines with daily scheduled services are [Norwegian Air Shuttle](/wiki/Norwegian_Air_Shuttle "Norwegian Air Shuttle"), [Scandinavian Airlines](/wiki/Scandinavian_Airlines "Scandinavian Airlines") (SAS) and [Widerøe](/wiki/Wider%C3%B8e "Widerøe"). Destinations with daily services are [Oslo](/wiki/Oslo "Oslo"), [Trondheim](/wiki/Trondheim_%28city%29 "Trondheim (city)"), [Bodø](/wiki/Bod%C3%B8_%28town%29 "Bodø (town)"), [Tromsø](/wiki/Troms%C3%B8_%28city%29 "Tromsø (city)") and [Andenes](/wiki/Andenes "Andenes"). Evenes is the only primary airport in [Central Hålogaland](/wiki/Central_H%C3%A5logaland "Central Hålogaland") and its catchment area for Oslo\-bound flights includes [Lofoten](/wiki/Lofoten "Lofoten") and [Vesterålen](/wiki/Vester%C3%A5len "Vesterålen").

[Seaplane](/wiki/Seaplane "Seaplane") services to Harstad and Narvik started in 1935\. Planning of an airport started in the 1950s. Several locations were considered, including building separate airports for each town. Consensus for Evenes was reached in the mid\-1960s, but construction was postponed to prioritize local airports, which resulted in Narvik also receiving [Narvik Airport, Framnes](/wiki/Narvik_Airport%2C_Framnes "Narvik Airport, Framnes"). Evenes opened on 30 June 1973, initially with a  runway. It was extended in 1977, after the military decided to establish the air station. [SAS Commuter](/wiki/SAS_Commuter "SAS Commuter") served Harstad\-Narvik from 1990 to 2002, and from 1994 competition was introduced on the Oslo route with the entry of [Braathens SAFE](/wiki/Braathens_SAFE "Braathens SAFE"). Norwegian started services in 2003 and launched international scheduled services from 2013\.


When was planning of an airport for the area started?