It is situated at Kvernberget on the island of Nordlandet and is the sole scheduled airport serving Nordmøre.

Kvernberget was the second airport to open in Møre og Romsdal, with flights commencing on 1 July 1970.

The first airline services to Kristiansund were part of the Bergen to Trondheim route which Norwegian Air Lines (DNL) established in 1935.

DNL resumed its routes in 1948, and Lufttransport commenced a service via Ålesund Airport, Sørneset to Oslo.

[7] This airport was by Parliament considered as sufficient for all of the county and the seaplane routes were terminated the same season.

[8] Proposals for an airport in Kristiansund were first launched in 1954, with Kvernberget as the preferred site and at an estimated investment cost of 6.5 million Norwegian krone.

Kristiansund's commission was led by William Dall and the same year the municipality bought a 54 hectares (130 acres) lot at Kvernberget to reserve it for a future aerodrome.

[8] Both Braathens SAFE and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) applied to operate the Oslo Airport, Fornebu route out of Kristiansund.

It cut away half the catchment area of Kvernberget, significantly reducing both ridership and services from Kristiansund Airport.

[8] With the opening of Haltenbanken for petroleum drilling in the early 1980s, the authorities decided that Kristiansund would be the center of operations for the area.

[13] Braathens SAFE introduced services from Kristiansund to Stavanger in 1997, due to the increased oil traffic.

Also Aberdeen, Scotland, became an important destination, and there were regular charter flights between the cities, up to five a week.

[16] City Star Airlines commenced the first international route, to Aberdeen Airport, on 10 October 2005 using a Dornier 328.

This allowed heavier aircraft to take off and will increase the desirability to use the aerodrome for Mediterranean inclusive tour charters.

[20] BMI Regional introduced a daily round trip with an Embraer 135 from Kristiansund to Aberdeen on 28 August 2013, targeting the oil industry.

[21] The airline commenced a domestic route on 23 January 2014, to Stavanger Airport, Sola.

Owned and operated by the state-owned Avinor, it is the sole airport with scheduled services in Nordmøre.

Flights along the West Coast to Bergen are provided by Widerøe using Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft.

[11] CHC Helikopter Service operates out of Kristiansund Airport to nine offshore oil platforms in the Norwegian Sea.

[2] The airport is situated 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) drive from the town center, just off National Road 70.