Scheduled services started the following year, with Widerøe providing flights to Bergen with the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.

Førde Airport, Øyrane was located in the middle of an industrial area and had severe safety shortcomings, such as lacking an instrument landing system and had a control tower without sight of the entire runway.

Large-scale construction of airports in Norway started in the 1950s, largely funded by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The first plans for an airport in Sunnfjord were launched by Engineer Arne Bengtsen, who proposed building an airfield in Florø and having Vestlandske Luftfartsselskap operate to it using the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer.

[1] Widerøe came with an alternative proposal and suggested that a network of smaller airports be built instead, which could be served using short take-off and landing aircraft, which were being developed at the time.

[1] Førde was declared as a "center of growth" in 1965, which resulted in a series of public agencies and industrial enterprises being built in the town.

The selection of Førde was tied to its central location within Sogn og Fjordane, as it was within a two-hour drive from nearly the entire county.

Førdefly never received a concession to operate scheduled services; instead it flew a daily charter flight to Bergen Airport.

[1] Bringelandsåsen, located 16 kilometers (10 mi) south of town, in the neighboring municipality of Gaular, was proposed by the CAA in 1974.

Plans were developed, and in 1983 the Ministry of Transport and Communications recommended that Øyrane be closed and replaced with an all-new airport at Bringeland.

[6] The terminal building at Øyrane remains, including the control tower and wharfs, although the runway and taxiway have been demolished to make way for industry.

The surrounding terrain, consisting of deep fjords, mountains and a town, made it impossible to install an instrument landing system.