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Røst Airport is a small state-owned regional airfield on the outer edge of the Lofoten archipelago, serving the remote fishing community of Røst in Nordland county, Norway. It is a scheduled Widerøe destination reached by short Dash 8 flights from Bodø, and for the visiting VFR pilot it offers a single lit runway on a low, wind-exposed island with dramatic surrounding seascape.
Røst Airport lies on Røstlandet, the main island of the Røst archipelago at the southern tip of the Lofoten chain, and is owned and operated by the state enterprise Avinor. It exists to give the island's fishing community a year-round air link to the mainland, and today sees scheduled Widerøe Dash 8-100 services under public service obligation to Bodø and Leknes. For a simulator pilot it is a compact, remote island strip with a single short runway, worth visiting for its isolated Atlantic setting as much as for the flying challenge of a windswept coastal approach.
The airport is situated on the northern edge of Røstlandet, just north of the main village, at the southern end of the Lofoten island chain in Nordland county, Norway. It sits on a low, largely flat outer island surrounded by open sea, with no other significant airfields nearby; the nearest connecting aerodromes on the Widerøe network are Bodø and Leknes.
Røst has a single physical runway, oriented 02/20, with a hard surface measuring 2,624 feet in length. Both directions are lit, and the field has no instrument landing system, making it a visual-approach airfield for practical purposes.
No published communications frequencies are listed for Røst Airport. The control tower is not staffed locally but is remotely controlled from Bodø, meaning any air traffic service is provided from that remote facility rather than on site.
Air services to Røst began in 1965, when Widerøe flew seaplane charters to the island using de Havilland Canada Otters and Noorduyn Norsemen, operated two to three times a week with subsidy support from the municipalities of Værøy and Røst. From 1973, Helikopter Service (subcontracting to Helilift) flew helicopter services from Bodø to Røst and neighbouring Værøy, initially with Sikorsky S-58Ts and later Bell 212s, the flights also doubling as search-and-rescue cover for the islands. Plans for a short take-off and landing airport at Røst were launched by the Norwegian government in December 1983 as part of a package of regional airports, approved by Parliament in April 1984, with construction starting in 1985. Røst Airport opened on 1 June 1986, built at a cost of around NOK 15 million, with Widerøe initially operating twenty-seat de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters on a Bodø-Røst-Værøy-Bodø pattern. Twin Otters were replaced by 37-seat DHC-8-100 Dash 8s in 1995, and the route became subject to public service obligation from 1997. Operators changed hands several times in the following decade, including Guard Air (2000-2001) and Kato Air (2003-2008), the latter's tenure marked by a lightning strike incident on a Røst-Bodø flight in December 2003 and local criticism over aircraft suitability and service standards; Widerøe has otherwise operated the route throughout. The airport was nationalised on 1 January 1997 along with 25 other regional Norwegian airports, coming under what is now Avinor.
Røst Airport remains an active Avinor-owned regional airport with scheduled Widerøe Dash 8-100 services to Bodø and Leknes under public service obligation. Air traffic control is remotely provided from Bodø rather than by a local tower. The airport handled a modest 9,889 passengers in 2014, reflecting its role as a lifeline link for the small island community rather than a high-traffic destination.
