- Station Group Banak
Infobox Airport
name = Station Group Banak
nativename =
nativename-a =
nativename-r =
image-width =
caption =
IATA = LKL
ICAO = ENNA
type = Military/Public
owner =
operator =Royal Norwegian Air Force
city-served =
location = Lakselv
elevation-f = 25
elevation-m = 8
coordinates = Coord|70|04|00|N|24|58|26|E|type:airport|display=inline,title
website =
metric-elev =
metric-rwy =
r1-number = 17/35
r1-length-f = 9,134
r1-length-m = 2,784
r1-surface = Asphalt, some concrete
stat-year =
stat1-header =
stat1-data =
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footnotes =Station Group Banak (Norwegian: Stasjonsgruppe Banak), formerly Banak Air Station, is located in
Porsanger inFinnmark ,Norway . It is operated by theRoyal Norwegian Air Force , which has twoWestland Sea King helicopters that are used forsearch and rescue operations, mostly over theBarents Sea . The station group is co-located with the civilianLakselv Airport, Banak . The Sea King helicopters are part of the 330 Squadron located atSola Air Station . One helicopter is on standby at all times. The air station is administratively underBodø Main Air Station . The air station is the most northern operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force. 50 people work at Banak.History
The first use of Banak as an
airport was in 1938, when the military constructed a small gravel field diagonal to today'srunway . The original runway is still partially visible in areas with little vegetation.During
World War II the German occupying forces expanded the airport, withhangar s, workshops and hospitals in addition to defensive positions. The buildings and installations were destroyed during the German retreat in 1944.After the war the airport was taken over by the Air Force, but the runway's wooden surface was cannibalized because of material shortage during the reconstruction of
Northern Norway . From 1951 the runway was unusable, and activities temporarily ceased.Banak Air Station opened again in 1963, along with the other two primary airports in Finnmark,
Alta Airport andKirkenes Airport, Høybuktmoen . The airport was financed throughNATO and in addition to being a military air station was also host to a civilan airport. The air station has since expanded multiple times to meet military and civilian requirements.West of the air station was the fortification Banak Fort. In 1958 Norway started a self-imposed no fly zone west of 24 degrees east, just west of Banak. Between 1988 and 1995 the Air Force station at
Kautokeino was administratively under Banak.Eksternal links
[http://www.mil.no/pubs/fnett/forsvarsnett/luft/start/omlf/stasjoner/banak/ Royal Norwegian Air Force page on Station Group Banak] (in Norwegian)
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