Alta Airport (; ) is an international airport serving Alta, a town and municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The airport is located at Elvebakken, east of the city center. It has a single, runway numbered 11/29, which lies on the southern shore of the Altafjord. Alta Airport is owned and operated by the state-owned Avinor, and served 368,393 passengers in 2014, making it the busiest airport in Finnmark. Widerøe Ground Handling is the handling agent at the airport, and the airport is served by the airlines Widerøe, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and Norwegian. Widerøe operates services to Tromsø and several regional airports in Finnmark, such as Vadsø, Båtsfjord, Mehamn and Kirkenes, feeding to the larger airlines routes. It serves as a base for two Beech King Airs from Babcock Scandinavian AirAmbulance, and Helitrans AS. There are a limited number of international charter flights, and private jets, especially around salmon fishing season in the Alta river. The first airport in the area was a military airfield built by the Luftwaffe in 1943, but was damaged beyond repair during World War II. The civilian airport opened on 4 May 1963. At first services were provided by SAS to other primary airports in the north and to Oslo, but in the 1970s, several regional airports opened in Finnmark, with Widerøe flying connecting flights to them. Alta Airport's regional importance increased in 1990, when it became a hub for the newly created SAS Commuter. Norwegian started flying to Alta in 2003 and a new terminal building was opened in 2009. History Construction The first airport in Alta was built by the Wehrmacht during the German occupation of Norway. Alta was a central part of the German military activity during World War II, resulting in an airstrip being constructed at Elvebakken in 1943. The airport was damaged beyond repair under Operation Nordlicht—the German withdrawal from Finnmark in 1944. During 1945 the Royal Norwegian Air Force operated a seaplane route along the coast of Northern Norway, which included a stop at Alta. However, the route was not resumed the following summer. The municipality started lobbying the air force and the civilian aviation authorities to establish an airline route to Alta. Specifically, they argued that both the water aerodrome at Bukta and an airfield at Altagård/Elvebakken be included in the national plans for future airports. The area at Altagårdsletta was freed up by the military in