[4] Haugesund Airport, Storesundsskjær was taken into use in 1936 and served various coastal seaplane services operated by Widerøe, Norwegian Air Lines and West Norway Airlines until its closing in 1956.

A proposed feeder service was rejected and the municipal council instead asked that the state grants be used to help fund a land airport.

[6] An inter-municipal commission was established in 1954, which in November 1956 recommended that Utvik in Avaldsnes in today's Karmøy be selected as a site for a regional airport with a 600-meter (2,000 ft) runway.

[7] The 1962 state commission led by Preben Munthe recommended in a 1965 white paper that Haugesund receive an airport.

Twenty-three other locations were considered by a local commission, including sites in Sveio, Tysvær and southern Karmøy.

[10] Prior to this the inter-municipal commission had bought the land and built water, power and sewer lines to the site, costing NOK 20 million.

The small lake Tyviktjønn was drained in the process,[11] and the airport received a runway measuring 1,720 by 45 meters (5,643 by 148 ft).

[19] In the first years the opening hours were a contended issue as the airport was closed in the middle of the day and late evenings.

The third departure to Oslo did not generate sufficient patronage, and after threatening to terminate the extra flight, SAS introduced a surcharge on all Haugesund tickets to covers its NOK 3 million per year deficit on the route.

[29] Braathens SAFE, through its regional affiliate Busy Bee, started operated a route from Stavanger via Haugesund to Bergen in 1984, using a 44-passenger Fokker F-27 in competition with Norving.

[32] The route was soon terminated as it used a full crew shift and aircraft to make only one round trip per day.

[33] Norving closed its base at Haugesund in November, as it gradually terminated its operations in Southern Norway due to financial difficulties.

It included a duty-free shop and was built to serve one weekly, seasonal inclusive tour flight to Palma de Mallorca Airport.

They bought Norving's former hangar, but after a buy-out instead chose to operate out of near-by Stord Airport, Sørstokken instead.

[40] Busy Bee went bankrupt in 1992 and Braathens' regional routes were allocated to Norwegian Air Shuttle, who operated with Fokker 50s.

On top of this, Coast Air commenced flights to Sandefjord Airport, Torp a few days a week.

[51] With the introduction of McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft, SAS oftentimes could not operate them at their maximum take-off weight.

[54] Wiggins instead proposed a lease where they would invest NOK 630 million in the aerodrome, including a hotel complex.

[60] Coast Air lost NOK 11 million on the price war during 2003,[61] and was ultimately forced to withdraw from the route in May 2004.

[62] The case was investigated by the Norwegian Competition Authority based on accusations of SAS carrying out illegal price dumping on the route.

[63] They issued a fine of NOK 20 million,[64] but the case ended in Oslo District Court, where Scandinavian Airlines was acquitted.

[65] Though initially appealed by the authority, the matter was settled out-of-court in December 2007, in which the airline agreed that they had broken the law, but that since it took place immediately the act came into power, they would not have to pay the fine.

[69] Parliament decided that five Avinor airports would be allowed to issue ninety percent discount on take-off charges on international routes.

[70] Ryanair started looking at Haugesund as a destination in 2002, hoping to serve both Rogaland and Hordaland from one airport.

[73] The expansion cost NOK 90 million and the agreement had a duration for fifteen years, during which time the company received a percentage of revenue from duty-free and parking generated from international services.

Lufthavnutvikling was privatized in 2006 and by 2014 there was a controversy regarding the legality of the agreement,[74] following changes to European Union regulations regarding airport subsidies.

[82] SAS Commuter's route to Bergen was taken over by Widerøe in 2010,[83] but closed in October 2016 due to fee rises and lack of demand.

The airport features a terminal building with a domestic and international departure hall,[38] residing at a reference elevation of 27 metres (89 ft) above mean sea level.

Ryanair ended all its flights to Haugesund after its agreement expired in October 2022, its seasonal summer routes to Malaga and Alicante are to be operated by Norwegian from 2023.

[2] The airport is situated at the terminus of European Road E134, between fifteen and twenty minutes drive from the town center of Haugesund.