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Västervik Airport (ESSW) is a small municipal airfield in Kalmar County, Sweden, lying a short distance northwest of the town of Västervik. It offers a single lit hard runway and has a colourful modern history involving a runway extension project championed by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus, making it a distinctive stop for VFR pilots touring the Swedish east coast.
Västervik Airport is a minor public airfield owned by Västervik Municipality, situated in the Mommehål area northwest of the town of Västervik in Kalmar County, Sweden. It is a quiet general aviation field today, but it has a notable history of scheduled airline service and a recent, somewhat troubled attempt at expansion, giving it an interesting story for visiting pilots beyond its modest size.
The airfield lies near Västervik in Kalmar County on Sweden's south-eastern coast, close to the Baltic Sea. It is a small, uncontrolled aerodrome; no specific controlled airspace or ATZ detail is available beyond its general location roughly 7 km northwest of Västervik town.
Västervik has a single runway, 15/33, orientated southeast-northwest, measuring 3,940 feet (approximately 1,200 metres) with a hard surface and runway lighting on both directions. There is no ILS approach at the field.
Pilots should call VÄSTERVIK RADIO on 131.615 MHz for information and traffic advisory service. There is no ILS or other precision instrument approach available.
Scheduled air service operated at Västervik between 1971 and 1986, initially linking Västervik with Stockholm-Bromma Airport and later with Stockholm Arlanda Airport. The airline Syd-Aero flew a Stockholm-Västervik-Oskarshamn route, carrying 3,476 passengers in 1980, rising to 3,744 by 1985. In 2016 Västervik Municipality committed 10 million SEK to extend the runway, a project influenced by a lobbying campaign involving ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus and local business leaders; the runway was lengthened from 800 to 1,199 metres in 2017. However, as of 2022 the new section had still not been approved by the Swedish Transport Agency owing to land ownership issues around the airport, and the project drew criticism for its cost and its failure to achieve its stated goal of allowing larger aircraft, including air ambulances, to use the field. On 1 September 2024, Urban Wahlberg became the airport's new manager; he has prior experience with the airfield through drone testing and has stated that it will continue operating as an airport.
Västervik Airport offers aviation fuel, both Jet A1 and 100LL, dispensed via a card-operated self-service system. The runway lighting and approach lighting can be activated by pilots from the air using pilot-controlled lighting. The airfield continues to function as a general aviation field under municipal ownership, with its long-term operation reaffirmed by its new airport manager in September 2024.
