 Mining ceased in Ny @-@ Ålesund in 1929 ; it was taken up again in 1941 , but because of the Second World War the town was evacuated the following year . From 1946 , the Royal Norwegian Air Force started serving Ny @-@ Ålesund with their Consolidated PBY Catalina amphibian aircraft . The aircraft were able to land if there was no ice on the fjord and lighting and weather permitted it . The first flight took place on 10 May and consisted of post drops . No further flights were carried out until 1949 ; one of the flights that year was an air ambulance operation . The service also dropped post at the other Norwegian settlements in Svalbard . In 1961 , the Catalinas were replaced with Grumman HU @-@ 16B Albatross aircraft . 
