the new airport opened on 31 August 1986, taking over all scheduled traffic from Øyrane. Widerøe started scheduled services to Oslo and Bergen, originally using de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and the larger de Havilland Canada Dash 7 STOL aircraft, of which the latter was used for the service to Oslo. The STOL De Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft was phased in from 1993. The helicopter-based carrier Airlift was established in 1986 and was based at Øyrane until 1988, when it also moved to Bringeland. The airport was originally owned as an inter-municipal enterprise by Gaular and Førde. Operating deficits were covered through various subsidies from the state, often with unclear responsibilities and little financial risk for the owners. Most regional airports, including Førde, were nationalized in 1996 and transferred to the CAA, later renamed Avinor. Widerøe lost the public service obligation contract to fly to Florø Airport in 2000, and therefore moved its technical base for Western Norway to Førde, which included a new hangar. Førde Airport had a café until 2006 and originally runway. In 2009 and 2010, it was expanded with another to the west. SCAT-I was installed in 2011. The following year, Widerøe regained the Florø contract, and moved its technical base back there. Facilities Førde Airport, Bringeland is owned and operated by the state-owned Avinor. The airport has a asphalt runway, aligned 07–25. Instrument flight rules are only allowed for aircraft equipped with SCAT-I. The terminal has a small conference center, and the airport is a seventeen-minute drive from Førde. Firda Billag operates an airport coach to Førda, which takes twenty minutes. Paid parking, taxis and car rental is available at the airport. Airlift has its own hangar, helipad and administration buildings. Airlines and destinations Widerøe operates all scheduled services out of Førde, connecting it to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. The flights are operated with Dash 8-100 aircraft and are subsidized as part of a public service obligation contract with the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Førde Airport is the local airport for ten municipalities in the Western Norway districts of Sunnfjord and Outer Sogn. The airport had 82,356 passengers, 8,109 aircraft movements and 3 tonnes of cargo in 2014. Less than a fifth of the patronage travels to Bergen, and Førde even experiences some leakage by people driving to Bergen Airport directly. The helicopter operator Airlift is based at Bringeland; it is the largest