 During the 1980s , the services were gradually taken over by Lufttransport , who used both small aircraft and helicopters . These gradually became more regular and became de facto scheduled services every fortnight . Lufttransport replaced the helicopter service with a two @-@ engine five @-@ seat aircraft in 1989 , which cut the cost of transport significantly . In 1993 , Widerøe established itself at Svalbard Airport and flew services to Ny @-@ Ålesund , but this only lasted the one season . In 1996 , Lufttransport and Kings Bay made an agreement that the airline would fly once per week during the winter and up to five times per week during the summer . The airline would use a Dornier Do 228 , which was also used for flights from Longyearbyen to Svea Airport for Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani . 
