Civil airport proposals Bergen had been served by the military
Bergen Airport, Flatøy since the 1920s and from 1934
Bergen Airport, Sandviken, both
water aerodromes. Following the establishment of
Gressholmen Airport in
Oslo in 1927,
Parliament appointed a state committee in 1930 to consider suitable locations for the construction of more airports. Bergen was one of the cities for which an airport was considered. Bergen Municipal Council appointed a committee in 1933 to find a suitable location. The committee looked for suitable sites for a land airport, and considered both
Flesland and Herdla as suitable sites.
Construction Germany invaded Norway on 9 April 1940, quickly securing control over Bergen and its vicinity. Two RAF squadrons of
Blackburn Skuas flew from
RNAS Hatston on
Orkney the following day, successfully sinking the
German cruiser Königsberg in Bergen. This was the first sinking of a major warship in the
Second World War by aircraft. Admiral
Otto von Schrader was concerned about the lack of German air support in the area. His only option was using
Sola Air Station outside
Stavanger, which provided insufficient response times. The
Kriegsmarine considered four suitable sites: Herdla, Flesland, the disused harness racing track at
Nesttun and Haukåsmyrene in
Åsane Municipality. They visited Herdla on 3 May 1940, but concluded that it was not suitable. Construction began in June 1940 The first work was on Runway I, the northernmost. Work was carried out hastily and this resulted in poor ground conditions. An operational runway was completed by August.
Military operations The first aircraft stationed at Herdla was a
flight of four
Messerschmitt Bf 109 of
Jagdgeschwader 4 (JG 4), named Bereitschaftsschwarm Herdle. The coast of
Western Norway was within range of RAF raids and therefore any ships running along the coast would be in need of air support. Herdla was initially a difficult airport to operate out of in part due to the short runway. Commands were often issued too late for an adequate response time. The Bf 109 were withdrawn to take part in the
Battle of Britain in November and replaced by
Zerstörergeschwader 76 (ZG 76) which operated larger
Messerschmitt Bf 110. The number of aircraft increased to five in January 1941. They were regularly shot down or damaged beyond repair and Herdla, therefore, received a steady stream of new aircraft, either Bf 109s or Bf 110s. By January 1941 there were 430 Norwegians working on constructing the airport, later that year increasing to nearly the double. These supplemented a significant number of German workers. The runways and tarmac were made of wooden frames manufactured in
Arna and sent by ship. The island of Herdla also had a village and the municipal center of
Herdla Municipality. As work on the airport progressed, more and more of the local residents were forced to relocate. A barbed wire was placed across the island in March 1941, dividing it into a military and civilian sector. But soon the rest of population, including the municipal administration, was forced to relocate, totaling 108 people. Most of the skirmishes were against the
RAF Coastal Command and mostly saw combat with
Bristol Beaufort,
Bristol Blenheim and
Lockheed Hudson aircraft. In April 1941 ZG 76 was pulled out and replaced with
JG 77. In the course of 1941 the number of air defense personnel increased from 90 to 180. By late 1941 nine Messerschmitts fighters, a Heinkel He 111 bomber and some trainers were based at the airport. Supplies were provided three times a week using a
Junkers Ju 52. Work on the taxiways commenced during the fall of 1941. Herdla was again bombed by the RAF on 7 January 1942, although without the aircraft hitting their targets. All Bf 109Ts were replaced with Bf 109Es in January 1942. Eastern European
prisoners of war started to participate in the construction work from 1942. In July Luftwaffe instead decided to station the new
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 at Herdla, replacing the Messerschmitts. By 7 August there were twelve Focke-Wulfs operating out of Herdla. In December the operations center burned down after a pilot, drunk from attending a party, took off and crashed. Herdla remained the only airport between Sola and
Trøndelag until July 1943, when Gossen Airport opened. Thereafter they took over most of the operations north of
Stad. By 1943 the
Allied threat towards German convoys in Norway had shifted. While previously naval attacks were the largest concern, air attacks became more prevalent. Convoys therefore increasingly operated at night, often hugging the fjords during the daytime where the landscape made tactical bombing difficult. The short range of the Herdla-based aircraft was a challenge for the Luftwaffe, who in January 1944 therefore decided to again station Bf 110s at Herdla. As of May 1944 the aircraft stationed at Herdla were six Bf 110, three
Fieseler Storch, one
Focke-Wulf Fw 58 and a
Junkers W 34. A major bombing raid towards Laksevåg was carried out by 140
Avro Lancaster and
Handley Page Halifax bombers on 4 October 1944. The fighters at Herdla were dispatched and intercepted the bombers over
Sotra. They avoided engagement over Bergen to avoid interfering with the air defenses. This was repeated on 29 October with 244 bombers. From December Bf 109s returned to Herdla. The number of skirmishes between British and German forces along the West Coast increased in this period, and the Luftwaffe concentrated its aircraft matériel in Norway to said area. Another bomber raid against Lakevåg took place on 12 January 1945.
Peacetime and closing At the time of the
end of World War II in Europe on 8 May 1945, there were twenty-one Fw A-8s, one Bf 110 and two or three Storchs at Herdla. The German troops organized their own evacuation, which went via
Voss Municipality. On 20 May a B-24 Liberator carried out an emergency landing at Herdla while en route to
Trondheim. After the end of the war the discussion about building an airport for Bergen reappeared. Herdla was a natural choice, given the amount of investments which had been made. Air Command West proposed on 8 March 1946 that two runways be built, one north–south measuring , with the possibility of being extended to . The east–west runway was proposed to be , with possibilities for an extension to . Both were to receive concrete surfaces. The control tower was rebuilt and the air force stationed an
air traffic controller from July 1946. Bergen Municipality was sufficiently convinced of Herdla's suitability that they bought fast ferries to operate a shuttle service. The
Ministry of Transport and Communications, Norwegian Air Lines and other authorities inspected Herdla on 7 January 1947. They agreed that Herdla was suitable both as a land and seaplane base. At the same time the tower service at Herdla was closed. The two clubs remained active at Herdla until 1954, after which the activity dwindled. Engineering reports were made of both Herdla and Flesland in 1950 and 1951. Previous investigations of Flesland had concluded that the length of the runway was limited to a small valley which is located at about the middle of the current runway. The new report proposed connecting the proposed area to a larger area to the south of the valley, which was at the right elevation. This would allow for a long runway. A political concern was the high cost of constructing a new airport. By 1950 land airports had been built for
Oslo, Stavanger,
Trondheim and
Kristiansand. This was supplemented with SAS deciding to terminate the services to Oslo and instead provide a feeder service to Stavanger. Alternatives were launched by two competing airlines:
Braathens SAFE proposed a minor upgrade to Herdla which would allow them to operate with their
de Havilland Heron aircraft. Widerøe on their side proposed using their
Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats, but these proved too expensive. At the same time, the Royal Norwegian Air Force started looking at Flesland as a suitable air station. Military engineers surveyed the area and concluded that it was well-suited for military purposes. The
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) granted funding for seven air stations in Norway in 1952, but these did not include Flesland. By then both military and ground transport concerns had made Flesland a favorite and funding was secured in 1952.
Bergen Airport, Flesland opened on 2 October 1955. Herdla Airport remained operational as a private airport, but saw very little use. During the 1960s it experienced a rise in traffic. ==Facilities==