Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Alta Airport lies on the southern shore of the Altafjord at Elvebakken, a few kilometres east of Alta town centre in Finnmark, and is the principal air gateway to western Finnmark. It is a single-runway, ILS-equipped field operated by Avinor and used as a Widerøe hub, making it a useful and instructive stop for VFR and IFR flights into Arctic Norway alike.
Alta Airport (ENAT/ALF) serves the town of Alta in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far north of Norway. It is owned and operated by the state airport authority Avinor and functions as a regional hub for Widerøe, with services also flown historically by SAS, Norwegian, Finnair and Discover Airlines. The field is also a base for air ambulance King Airs and a helicopter operator, and sees seasonal charter and private jet traffic around the Alta river salmon fishing season, all of which makes it a lively single-runway airport of interest to visiting pilots.
The airport sits at Elvebakken, about 4 kilometres east of Alta town centre, on the southern shore of the Altafjord, at an elevation of 7 feet amsl and coordinates 69.9761N, 23.3717E. Alta serves as the main aviation gateway for western Finnmark, with the terrain and fjord shoreline forming the immediate surroundings of the field.
Alta has a single physical runway, oriented 11/29, with a hard, lit surface. The threshold data show runway 29 at 6,667 feet and runway 11 at 6,469 feet, with an ILS approach serving runway 11.
Radio services at Alta include an ATIS broadcast on 118.175 MHz and a tower frequency of 118.1 MHz. The runway 11 approach is supported by an ILS.
The runway lies directly on the southern shore of the Altafjord, close to the mouth of the Altaelva river, which forms a clear natural landmark for pilots approaching from the fjord side; the town of Alta and the Bossekop district lie a few kilometres to the west of the field.
The first airfield at Elvebakken was built by German forces during the occupation of Norway, with an airstrip constructed in 1943 as part of the Wehrmacht's military activity in the Alta area. This wartime airfield was damaged beyond repair during Operation Nordlicht, the German withdrawal from Finnmark in 1944. After the war the Royal Norwegian Air Force briefly ran a seaplane route along the northern coast calling at Alta, but this was not sustained, and for a decade civilian air service to Alta relied instead on a seasonal water aerodrome at Bukta, initially reached by boat and later by floating dock, operating only from May to September. Local politicians lobbied through the 1950s for a proper land airport, and Alta was included in the national airport plan of 1956, with early proposals for two runways of 1,000 and 800 metres. After further planning, including consideration of an alternative site at Sokkelma that was rejected on account of surrounding terrain, construction of the present airport began in February 1962, built alongside the new airports at Banak and Kirkenes, and the runway was completed that autumn. The civilian airport opened on 4 May 1963, initially served by SAS on routes to other primary airports in the north and to Oslo. Through the 1970s a network of regional Finnmark airports developed, feeding Widerøe traffic into Alta, and the airport's role grew further in 1990 when it became a hub for the newly formed SAS Commuter. Norwegian began flying to Alta in 2003, and a new terminal building opened in 2009.
Alta remains an active Avinor-operated airport and a Widerøe hub, with Widerøe Ground Handling acting as the handling agent on the field. It hosts scheduled services along with a limited number of international charters and private jet movements, particularly during the Alta river salmon fishing season, and serves as a base for air ambulance King Airs and a helicopter operator.
