Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Visby Airport (ESSV) serves the Baltic island of Gotland, lying about 3.5 kilometres north of the historic town of Visby. It is Gotland's only commercial aerodrome, combining scheduled and charter passenger services with a military role and a lively general aviation community, making it a distinctive stop for a visiting VFR pilot.
Visby Airport is located on the island of Gotland, Sweden, a few kilometres north of the walled town of Visby, and is operated by Swedavia. It is the only airport on Gotland with a runway long enough for commercial jet traffic and has served as both a civil airport and a military detachment site since the Second World War. For a sim pilot, its mix of an ILS-equipped hard runway, a grass crosswind strip, and its dramatic island and coastal setting make it an interesting and varied destination.
The airport sits on Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea, about 3.5 kilometres north of Visby town centre. It is described as a regional and military airport, reflecting its dual civil and defence role, and is the only aerodrome on the island with a long paved runway, making it strategically significant for the defence of the Baltic Sea region.
Visby has two physical runways. Runway 03/21 is 6,553 feet long, has a hard surface, is lit, and runway 21 is equipped with an ILS approach. Runway 10/28 is a grass strip 3,614 feet long and is also lit. Field elevation is 144 feet.
Traffic is handled by Visby APP on 126.155 MHz and Visby TWR on 120.305 MHz. The ILS serves runway 21, providing an instrument approach for arrivals from that direction.
Seaplanes provided the first public air links to Gotland from 1925, alighting in a sheltered bay near Slite or on Lake Tingstäde. Visby Airport itself opened on 27 January 1942, with the first aircraft to land being a Junkers Ju 52/3m named Göteland operated by AB Aerotransport. Regular services between Visby and the Swedish mainland began later that year, initially using Ju 52s. In 1958 a new terminal, control tower and an asphalt runway were inaugurated; unusually, this runway was crossed by the railway line running from Visby to the northern part of the island, making it one of the few airports in the world with an active rail crossing over its runway. Rail traffic ended in 1960 and the tracks were later removed. The current terminal and control tower date from 1985. The airport has hosted military activity since it opened in 1942, functioning as a detachment for a mainland airbase rather than a standalone base, and Gotland's only long runway is considered important for the defence of the Baltic Sea and of neighbouring NATO members Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Visby remains Gotland's only commercial airport, handling scheduled and seasonal charter flights alongside continuing military use. A flying club and a parachuting club are based at the field, and the Swedish Maritime Administration bases a search and rescue helicopter there. The airport is known to become slot-coordinated during the annual Almedalen Week owing to a surge in traffic.
