Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget is Norway's principal gateway to the Nordmøre district, sited on the island of Nordlandet within Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county. Operated by Avinor, it combines scheduled airline services with significant offshore helicopter traffic to the Norwegian Sea, and offers a single long ILS-equipped runway that makes it a straightforward and interesting VFR or IFR destination for visiting pilots.
Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget is an international airport serving the town of Kristiansund and the wider Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Operated by Avinor, it is used by Scandinavian Airlines and Widerøe for scheduled domestic services and by CHC Helikopter Service for offshore helicopter operations to the Norwegian Sea, giving it a mixed character of regional airline hub and offshore support base that makes it a worthwhile study for a visiting simulator pilot.
The airfield lies at Kvernberget on the island of Nordlandet, within Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, at coordinates 63.1119N, 7.8261E. It is the sole scheduled airport serving the Nordmøre district, with Molde Airport, Årø lying to the south and Ålesund Airport, Vigra further southwest, both having been considered as shared-airport alternatives during the site's planning history.
The airport has a single physical runway, 07/25, of hard surface and lit along its length. The 07 threshold is associated with an ILS approach and a published length of 7,558 ft, while the 25 threshold has a length of 7,613 ft, reflecting the runway's construction and extension over time.
The tower callsign operates on 118.3 MHz. The runway is equipped with an ILS serving runway 07, supporting instrument approaches into the field.
Kristiansund's earliest air services began in 1935 as part of Norwegian Air Lines' Bergen to Trondheim route, calling at Ålesund, Molde and Kristiansund via a water aerodrome at the town's harbour, with winter-only flying. Services resumed after the war, and West Norway Airlines operated routes through 1957. Ålesund Airport, Vigra was built instead of a long-mooted central Møre og Romsdal airport at Aukra Airport, Gossen, and was considered sufficient for the whole county when it opened in 1958, ending Kristiansund's seaplane services. Proposals for a dedicated Kristiansund airport at Kvernberget date to 1954, and a local airport commission led by William Dall was established in 1959, with the municipality purchasing a 54-hectare site that year. A national airport commission recommended in December 1964 that Kristiansund be given top priority for a new airport, and Parliament approved Kvernberget on 2 April 1968. Built to a specification based on a 1,920-metre runway, construction took nineteen months and cost NOK 31 million; the airport formally opened on 31 June 1970 with flights commencing the next day, initially served by Braathens SAFE and SAS with Fokker F27 and F28 aircraft, and by Widerøe as part of its coastal network. Kvernberget handled 88,246 passengers in 1971, but Molde Airport, Årø's opening in 1972 halved its catchment area and depressed traffic for over a decade. The first helicopter terminal opened in 1982, a new passenger terminal was completed in 1989, a second helicopter terminal followed in 1994, and the runway was extended to its current length in 2012. A further new terminal was completed in 2017.
Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget continues to operate as an international airport handling scheduled domestic services by Scandinavian Airlines and Widerøe, alongside substantial offshore helicopter traffic to the Norwegian Sea operated by CHC Helikopter Service. The airport handled 314,084 passengers in 2018, reflecting its role as the principal air link for the Nordmøre district.
