If you see a runway in the middle of Valdres and wonder what it is doing there, it is Fagernes Airport Leirin. It opened in 1987 to serve Valdres, Hallingdal, and parts of Gudbrandsdalen, about 190 kilometres from Oslo. Parliament approved it in 1984, and local authorities insisted on a longer runway to allow charter flights.
The timing was unfortunate. The same year the airport opened, the Valdresbanen railway closed. The region traded a daily train connection for an airport that never quite found enough passengers. Commercial flights ended in 2018.
The runway is still there and the airport is technically operational for charter and private flights, but there are no scheduled services. It is mostly used for occasional charter groups heading to the ski resorts and for local flying clubs. The terminal building sits quietly by the road, a monument to optimistic infrastructure planning in rural Norway.
The timing was unfortunate. The same year the airport opened, the Valdresbanen railway closed. The region traded a daily train connection for an airport that never quite found enough passengers. Commercial flights ended in 2018.
The runway is still there and the airport is technically operational for charter and private flights, but there are no scheduled services. It is mostly used for occasional charter groups heading to the ski resorts and for local flying clubs. The terminal building sits quietly by the road, a monument to optimistic infrastructure planning in rural Norway.