Hamar built a
water aerodrome close to
Hamar Station in 1948. It used the lake of
Mjøsa as its water body and during winter it would occasionally be prepared so that ski planes could land. The initiative for a land airport came from the
Royal Norwegian Air Force, which on 7 October 1948 sent a letter to Hamar Municipality asking if they had plans for an airport. Because the municipality had just invested in the water aerodrome, they had not considered the considerable investment which would be necessary for a land airport. In an executive board meeting on 26 October the municipality established an airport committee. A location was found at Stafsberg, which at the time was located at the intersection between
Hamar Municipality,
Furnes Municipality and
Vang Municipality. The site was formerly used by the
Norwegian Army and therefore no expropriation was necessary. The airport's plans were finalized and approved in mid 1950.
Braathens SAFE started flying scheduled services to Hamar from 16 May 1956, using
de Havilland Herons. Hamar was an intermediate stop on the route between
Oslo Airport, Fornebu and
Trondheim Airport, Værnes, which also called at
Røros Airport. Braathens remained until 1958, when they replace the Herons with the larger
Fokker F27 Friendships on the route. These could not land on the short runway at Stafsberg, so Hamar was dropped from the service. Braathens stated that they never made any money from operating at Hamar. As a short-time replacement, Solbergfly started a route which connected
Notodden Airport, Tuven with Oslo and Hamar, using a
Cessna 310. However, the route was abandoned after a single season. Flytransport was established at the airport in 1964 and operated taxi flights and an aviation school, specializing in helicopter training. During the following decade there was a large increase in the demand for pilots, particularly for helicopters, driven by the increased offshore petroleum activity. Flytransport grew to become the largest aviation school in the country. At its peak the company had fixed-wing aircraft, four helicopters and ten instructor pilots. It trained between ninety and one hundred pupils per year.
Widerøe announced plans in 1983 to start flights to Hamar, initially by carrying out a test landing with a
de Havilland Canada Dash 7. Sufficient upgrade to the airport would cost ca. ten million krone, but a decision was made more complicated due to the airport being located in three municipalities. Rudshøgda was supported by
Hedmark County Council in February 1984. The airport at Rudshøgda was approved by
Parliament later that year, causing the
Ministry of Transport and Communications to halt all support to Stafsberg. Hamar Municipality responded by not wanting to participate in the airport at Rudshøgda. The municipality took initiative to cover the costs to upgrade Stafsberg to allow scheduled services in 1985. Costing NOK 800,000, The upgrades included upgrades to the tower and establishment of a terminal building. The route to Oslo and Bergen commenced on 12 November; after two months Widerøe stated that they were happy with the patronage to Bergen, but no to Oslo. Due to low patronage, the last flights to Oslo and Trondheim were carried out on 27 November 1987. At the same time the airline increased their services to Bergen. However, Widerøe terminated the Bergen route on 17 June 1988, citing that they were not able to make money on the route. By then the aviation company Scan-Craft, originally known as Lyslid Flyservice, had started an aircraft maintenance service at Stavsberg. The concession from Hamar to Bergen and Trondheim was awarded on 21 September 1988, allowing to daily flights to Bergen and one to Trondheim. The services lasted until August 1989, when the company filed for bankruptcy. Hamar Fly was incorporated in March 1995 with the intention of resuming the route to Bergen. Services commenced on 25 September with four weekly flights in each direction. However, the route was later terminated. ==Facilities==