It has been an airport for passenger flights, serving Fagernes and the surrounding valleys of Valdres, Hallingdal and Gudbrandsdal in Southern Norway, 190 kilometres (120 mi) from Oslo.

Fagernes was an international airport with a 1,800-square-metre (19,000 sq ft) terminal building which includes immigration and customs clearing facilities, a cafeteria, duty-free store and several car rentals.

Construction started in 1985, but plans were changed in 1986, when local authorities decided to build a longer runway to allow charter flights.

[13] The nearby Geilo Airport, Dagali, a two-hour drive away, had already made a similar decision, and was in the process of extending its own runway.

The state had initially paid 60% of the NOK 29.3 million investments for the 800-metre (2,600 ft) version of the airport, and the rest was financed by municipal and county grants.

[19] The municipalities had co-signed for a foreign loan, and were forced to pay NOK 3.5 million annually just in interest, in addition to the operating cost of the airport; these were aggravated by not only the loss of the sole scheduled service, but also considerably less charter traffic than estimated.

[26] About 4,500 passengers were using the airport each year, compared to the 120,000 carried annually by the Valdresekpressen coach service on the 190 kilometres (120 mi) to Oslo.

[27][28] Local politicians contacted Widerøe to discuss the possibility of introducing scheduled services, but the airline stated that it would only fly if it was granted subsidies.

Although initially planned to be introduced in January 1990, Widerøe later dropped out, and the contract was awarded to Coast Air, who began operating on 3 September 1990, using a de Havilland Canada Twin Otter aircraft.

[33] Widerøe's contract lasted only eight months, until 1 April 2000, when Guard Air, who bid NOK 6.93 million per year, won the tender, and started flying with Dornier 228 aircraft.

[34] On 8 October 2001, Guard Air filed for bankruptcy, and the ministry signed an intermediate contract with Widerøe to fly the route.

Charter services were provided during the winter season, serving the wide range of ski resorts in the area, especially Hemsedal.

During the winter of 2010/11 and 2011/12, weekly services were provided by Thomas Cook Airlines using an Airbus A320, on behalf of the British tour operator Neilson, serving London Gatwick - Fagernes on Sundays in the period of December - April.