Herdla Airport | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The airport under attack during Operation Archery in 1941 | |||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Serves | Bergen, Norway | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 60°34′34″N 4°57′25″E / 60.576°N 004.957°E | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  Herdla | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Herdla Airport (Norwegian: Herdla flyplass; German: Flugplatz Herdla) was a military air base situated on the island of Herdla in Askøy, Norway. It consisted of two wooden runways, 1,000 and 850 meters (3,280 and 2,790 ft) long, respectively, in addition to wharfs for a water aerodrome.
Herdla was originally proposed during the 1930s as the site of the main airport for Bergen. With the German occupation of Norway, the island was seized by the German Luftwaffe. Construction started in June 1940 and the first runway opened in October. The second was completed the following year. Throughout the Second World War the airport served fighter aircraft; these were used to attack the Arctic convoys, defend German vessels from Royal Air Force raids, as well as provide an airborne defense against British bomber missions against Laksevåg.
The airport was taken over by the Royal Norwegian Air Force in 1945. They retained operations until 1948 and in 1955 Bergen Airport, Flesland opened as Bergen's main airport. Herdla remained in cursory civil and military use until 1972.