Bardufoss Air Station

Bardufoss Air Station
A flight line marshaler directs a C-141B during exercise Alloy Express, 1982.
IATA: BDU ICAO: ENDU
Summary
Airport type	Military/Public
Operator	Royal Norwegian Air Force
Serves	Lenvik, Sørreisa, Bardu & Målselv, Norway
Location	Bardufoss
Elevation AMSL	252 ft / 77 m
Coordinates	69°03′22″N 018°32′25″E / 69.05611°N 18.54028°E / 69.05611; 18.54028
Website	Bardufoss lufthavn
Map
Bardufoss Location in Norway
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 10/28 2,443 8,015 Asphalt

Bardufoss Air Station (IATA: BDU, ICAO: ENDU) (Norwegian: Bardufoss flystasjon) is located in the municipality of Målselv in Troms county in Northern Norway. It is the location of the Royal Norwegian Air Force 139 Air Wing and two helicopter squadrons; the 337 Squadron operating Lynx MK 86 for the Norwegian Coast Guard and the 339 Squadron equipped with Bell 412SPs. It is also the base for the Royal Norwegian Air Force Flight Training School. In addition, helicopter Squadron no. 334 is currently under establishment as it will be operating NH90 NFH helicopters. The delivery of the NH90 helicopters just started. 334 Squadron will only have its command post and maintenance facilities at Bardufoss, as the helicopters will be stationed on the new Fridtjof Nansen class frigates when they arrive.

The airbase is also used by the civilian community: Norwegian Aviation College (NAC) is located at the airport, and there is also a flying club (Bardufoss Flyklubb) and a parachute jumping club. Norwegian Air Shuttle currently operates three daily flights with Boeing 737 aircraft from Bardufoss Airport to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen.

The first plane to land at the air station was a de Havilland Tiger Moth on 26 March 1938, making it the country's oldest air station still operational. During World War II, RAF Gloster Gladiators (No. 263 Squadron RAF) and Hawker Hurricanes (No. 46 Squadron RAF) operating from Bardufoss played a vital part in keeping the Luftwaffe at bay during the fighting on the Narvik front in the April–June 1940 Norwegian Campaign. After the allied withdrawal from Norway, the airbase was taken over by the Germans and mostly used as a base for fighters, bombers and reconnaissance planes operating against the Murmansk convoys. Fighters from Bardufoss also had the task of providing aerial support for naval operations in the area, but failed to scramble in time to prevent the battleship Tirpitz from being sunk by Avro Lancaster bombers at Håkøya near Tromsø. Luftwaffe ace Heinrich Ehrler was originally sentenced to death because of this, but was never executed: He died in combat when he rammed an American B-17 Flying Fortress over Germany.