Military establishment Værnes is first recorded in the tenth century as the seat for one of eight chieftains in Trøndelag. The first military activity in the area was as a base for
leidang. After the
Viking Age, the farm at Værnes was taken over by the
king and became the seat of the
vogt. From 1671, the farm was owned by a series of military officers and public servants. In 1887, the farm was bought by the Royal Norwegian Army and converted to a camp. The first aircraft to use Værnes was a military
Farman MF.7 Longhorn, which took off on 26 March 1914. It was part of the plan to establish the
Norwegian Army Air Service, for which Værnes was chosen as the initial station for Central Norway. Radio equipment was installed in 1919 and the first hangar was built in 1920. By 1922, the grass field serving as runway has become insufficient for newer planes, both in terms of length and level, but an extension was not performed until 1925. In 1927,
parliament passed legislation to move the division to
Rinnleiret from 1930, but this was later annulled. With the delivery of
Fokker aircraft in 1930, the runway was again upgraded and extended. Værnes was surrendered to
Luftwaffe on 9 April 1940, during the
German occupation of Norway. On 24 April 350 civilians started construction at Værnes, and within a few days 2,000 people were hired. On 28 April, a new wooden runway was completed. The expansion was part of the plans for
Festung Norwegen and was used as a bomber base for attacks on
Northern Norway. By May, there were 200 aircraft stationed at Værnes. During the war, particularly in April 1940, the airport was subject to several bombings from the
Royal Air Force (RAF). In June, work was started to clear the forests near the airport, and graves from the Viking Age were found. Construction was halted for several weeks while German and Norwegian archaeologists conducted research. In July, work started on building concrete runways, and by 1942 all three runways were finished. The east–west was made long, the north–south was made while the northwest–southeast was made long. A number of taxiways were also constructed and a branch line of the railway was built to the hangars. By 1945, Luftwaffe had built about 100 buildings at Værnes. The land expropriated was estimated at between . Luftwaffe had also finished the control tower that had been under construction since 1939. visits
Luftwaffe troops on 23 April 1940. After the war ended, the airport was initial taken over by the
Royal Air Force, but they soon withdrew leaving the Norwegian military in charge. Numerous squadrons, including
332,
331 and 337 were stationed at Værnes in the post-war years. In 1952, the pilot school was moved to Værnes, but in 1954 Ørland Main Air Station became the main air force base in Central Norway, and the majority of the armed air forces (with the exception of the school) moved to Ørland.
Previous airports Civilian aviation in Trøndelag started in 1937, when
Norwegian Air Lines (DNL) started seaplane services from
Ilsvika and
Jonsvannet in Trondheim. These were terminated during World War II, but taken up again by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Norwegian Air Force during the summer of 1945. They were terminated in November due to the weather and RAF's withdrawal. The following year, DNL started services again, this time from
Hommelvik. During winter, the route was not operated. The service was operated with a
Short Sandringham flying boat to
Oslo and Northern Norway, and a
Junkers Ju 52 to Western Norway. The southbound and northbound Sandringhams and the Junkers all met at Hummelvik to exchange passengers. There was only room for two planes at the quay, so the third aircraft had to be anchored in the fjord. In 1947, the airport had 3,500 passengers. On 2 October 1948, the
Bukkene Bruse Accident occurred, where a Sandringham aircraft crashed during landing, killing 19 people. In 1949, a reserve airport was built at
Skogn, and people were transported from Hommelvik to Skogn along the Nordland Line in case the reserve airport was used. DNL became part of
Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) in 1951—the last year it used Hommelvik.
Vestlandske Luftfartsselskap continued to use Hommelvik for an additional year. Braathens SAFE started their route from
Oslo Airport, Fornebu via
Hamar Airport, Stafsberg and
Røros Airport on 18 August 1953. However, they chose to operate their
de Havilland Herons from
Trondheim Airport, Lade, just a few kilometers outside of the city center, in days with clear weather. Braathens SAFE moved all services to Værnes in 1956.
Civilian establishment After World War II, there was only
general aviation at Værnes, organized by two clubs, Værnes flyklubb and
NTH flyklubb. From 1 August 1946 to 31 July 1947, there were 1,221 take-offs from Værnes, mostly during the summer. During parts of 1946 and 1947, the airport was used as a
pasture for sheep. The first scheduled service was introduced with a
Douglas DC-3 operated to Oslo by DNL during the winter of 1947–48. While there were initially many customers, the lack of sufficient deicing caused low regularity and fewer customers through the season. The route was not reopened the following year. The air traffic control at Værnes was established in 1946, after the air force had sent personnel to the United Kingdom for training. The
Telecommunications Administration took over the responsibility for the radio installations, and the responsibility for the meteorological services became the responsibility of the
Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
Trondheim Air Traffic Control Center was also established to monitor all air space over Central Norway. In 1955, a glass dome was built on top of the control tower, giving a much better view of the air field. Prior to World War II,
Heimdal had been proposed as a location for the primary airport for Trondheim. Construction had started with drainage and ground works, but this work was interrupted by the war. Because of the large investments made to Værnes by Luftwaffe, a commission was established in 1947 to look into if Værnes or Lade instead should be selected. The commission was unanimous in recommending Værnes, highlighting that the airport was of a sufficient size to handle all civilian and military needs in the foreseeable future, and emphasized the proximity to the railway and highway. However, the commission recommended that Heimdal and Lade be kept as possibilities for future expansion. When the issue was discussed in
Parliament, several members of the
Standing Committee on Transport and Communications focused on the long distance to Trondheim, but the low investment needs (stipulated to NOK 1.3 million for necessary navigation and air control investments) convinced parliament, who passed legislation in favor of Værnes on 10 June 1952. In 1956,
NATO approved the plans for Værnes to be financed through its infrastructure investment plan, after rejecting proposals for Heimdal. The costs were estimated at NOK 27.4 million and would allow the runway to be extended to support
jet aircraft. Such an extension had already been done at Ørland Main Air Station, but NATO wanted to have two military air station of such dimensions in Central Norway. The east–west runway was to be extended to ; initial proposals had called for the extension to occur on the east side, but the Ministry of Defence instead wanted the expansion of the fjord-side to reduce
expropriation costs. This called for a complex civil engineering program, as the railway and highway would have to pass under the runway in tunnels and an
artificial island would have to be built in the fjord and the mouth of the Stjørdal River be diverted. SAS moved its seaplane services to Værnes in 1952, and two-year later started flying the route from
Oslo Airport, Fornebu via Trondheim to
Bodø Airport using
Saab 90 Scandia aircraft. The first terminal was half a barracks located beside a military hangar. In 1956, Braathens SAFE moved its services from Lade to Værnes, making the terminal too small for the needs. The whole barracks was taken into use in 1958, doubling the area. Braathens SAFE initially served flights to Trondheim from Oslo Airport, Fornebu with stop-overs at Hamar Airport, Stafsberg, and from 1957 at Røros Airport, using
de Havilland Heron aircraft. Concession for the route from Bergen via the new
Ålesund Airport, Vigra to Trondheim was granted to Braathens SAFE from 1958. Braathens SAFE then also started using
Fokker F-27 turboprops, at first on the Oslo-route, but later also on the West Coast route. When they were taken fully into use, the service to Hamar was terminated. In 1957, parliament started a new process to consider Heimdal as the primary airport, in part because the airlines and the Civil Aviation Administration stated that they felt Værnes was insufficient. However, higher costs—due to bad ground conditions and existing infrastructure at Værnes, valuated at NOK 150 million—caused parliament to support Værnes. Construction of the new runway therefore commenced in January 1959, with the work subcontracted to Selmer. First the artificial peninsula was built, then the delta of the Stjørdal River was moved, before a tunnel was built around the highway and railway. Finally, the runway could be built on top, and construction completed on 21 October 1961. In 1963, the airport had 115,000 passengers, increasing to 195,000 the following year. That year, SAS started using the
Sud Aviation Caravelle jet aircraft on their route. Parliament passed legislation for the construction of a new terminal in 1964, which opened on 5 December 1965. the following year, Widerøe started a seaplane route from Værnes to
Namsos,
Rørvik,
Brønnøysund,
Sandnessjøen,
Mo i Rana and Bodø. To serve the seaplanes, a quay was established at
Hell. On 1 July 1968, four airports in
Helgeland opened:
Namsos Airport, Høknesøra,
Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy,
Sandnessjøen Airport, Stokka and
Mo i Rana Airport, Røssvoll. These were served by Widerøe with the land planes
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter. From 1 April 1967, Braathens SAFE was permitted to extend their West Coast service north to Bodø and Tromsø. Starting in 1969, Braathens introduced
Boeing 737-200 jet aircraft on the Oslo services and
Fokker F-28 jet aircraft on the West Coast services. In 1975, a third control tower was built, located right in front of (the yet to be built) Terminal A. In 1976, charter planes started operating to Trondheim, after a barracks was rebuilt to facilitate a border control. Several plans for a larger terminal were made, but these were delayed. In the late 1970s, the tarmac was expanded and a new taxiway built. Braathens SAFE opened a new hangar in 1979. In 1988, smaller adjustments, including new washrooms and longer baggage belts, were installed at the terminal. In 1992, SAS Cargo built a facility.
Fourth terminal and deregulation The fourth and current domestic terminal was opened on 15 November 1994. With of floor space it had seven gates, of which five had jetbridges. The two remaining gates were fitted with jetbridges in July 2012. Værnes became the first airport in the
Nordic countries with a train station in the terminal, when Trondheim Airport Station opened. In March 1996, the old terminal was named Terminal B and all international flights were moved there. A new taxiway, which extended the full length of the runway, was opened in 1999, after more artificial land has been created and a second tunnel built for the highway and railway.
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen opened on 8 October 1998, replacing the congested Fornebu. For the first time, an airline could receive sufficient
landing slots to challenge SAS and Braathens on domestic routes. The
low-cost carrier Color Air was established, and started flights from Oslo to Trondheim using
Boeing 737-300 aircraft. SAS and Braathens also saw the opportunity to increase the frequency on the route, and the three airlines between them introduced 39 daily flights. This made the route the fourth-busiest in Europe in terms of the number of aircraft. During this period, there were 84 daily departures to all destinations from Værnes. Color Air filed for bankruptcy on 27 September 1999, ending a
price war which had cost the airlines NOK 3 billion. By April 2000, the number of services by the main airlines was reduced to less than the level before the opening of Gardermoen, with 75 daily departures. Braathens had 33 daily departures, SAS had 22 and Widerøe had 20. Of Braathens' services, 14 were to Oslo, 15 to cities on the West Coast (of which four were operated by Norwegian Air Shuttle) and four were to Bodø, Harstad/Narvik and Tromsø. SAS operated 15 daily flights to Oslo, while eight were operated to Bodø, Harstad/Narvik and Tromsø. One flight was to their main hub in Copenhagen. This was the last year that SAS used DC-9s to Trondheim, phasing in
Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft, supplemented by occasional MD-80s. Widerøe had 15 daily flights to STOLports in Helgeland, and five flights to Sandefjord. In 2004, SAS and Braathens merged to form
SAS Braathens. The airline changed its name back to Scandinavian Airlines in 2007. From 1 September 2002, Norwegian Air Shuttle converted from a regional airline to a low-cost carrier and started competing on the route to Oslo. From 5 May 2003, Norwegian started a daily domestic service to
Tromsø, from 17 April 2004, they introduced two weekly services to
Prague,
Czech Republic, and from 26 June to
Dubrovnik,
Croatia. From 30 October, Norwegian introduced one weekly flight to
Murcia, Spain, from 4 November, they introduced five weekly services to
London Stansted Airport, United Kingdom. In 2005, Terminal B received a major upgrade, increasing the passenger area with . The airport was also rebuilt to 100% security control. The terminal received a new
border control for flights to countries outside the
Schengen Area and a
duty-free store for both departing and arriving passengers. A new tall control tower was also built. from 7 May 2006, they introduced one weekly service to
Nice, France; On 1 April 2008, they started two weekly round trips to
Warsaw, Poland; and from 1 June 2008, Norwegian introduced one daily evening flight to
Bodø and Tromsø. In 2009, a new indoor parking lot opened, with a capacity of 1,200 cars. It replaced a site with 225 parking places and cost NOK 125 million. The same year saw the opening of the Radisson Blu hotel, costing NOK 220 million, and a new fire station for NOK 80 million. On 31 January 2010, SAS operated its last service to Molde. To compensate, the Molde-based
Krohn Air was established to start flights between Værnes and
Molde Airport, Årø on 3 February, using
Dornier 328 aircraft operated by
Sun Air of Scandinavia. On 22 February 2010,
Nextjet commenced two daily round trips to
Åre Östersund Airport and
Stockholm-Bromma Airport in Sweden. This connection ended during that year. Scandinavian already had flights to Stockholm. From 28 March 2010, Norwegian moved its three weekly services to London from Stansted to
London Gatwick Airport. From 10 June to 30 August 2010,
Icelandair operated two weekly services to their hub
Keflavík International Airport using
Boeing 757 aircraft. Among international destinations operating in 2018 but not 2010 are Tallinn, Kraków and Gdańsk. ==Future==