The airport has a 880-meter (2,890 ft) runway and is served by Widerøe, which operates regional routes using the Dash 8-100 to Tromsø, and some communities and towns in Finnmark on public service obligation contracts.

Sørkjosen was launched as part of a national network of regional short take-off and landing airport which was proposed in the mid-1960s.

[3] A new fire station, serving both the airport and the municipality, was completed in 1992, costing 3.2 million Norwegian krone.

[7] The Civil Aviation Administration (later renamed Avinor) recommended in 1994 that Sørkjosen and eight other airports be considered closed, as they had high costs and low patronage.

[9] The state and the Civil Aviation Administration took over ownership and operations of the airport from 1 January 1997, in exchange for NOK 3.9 million being paid to Nordreisa Municipality.

The application was rejected by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, who stated that airports were required by regulation to be named after a settlement rather than a municipality.

[13] This required the terminal to be slightly rebuilt; while it previously had a common departure and arrivals hall, it had to be separated into two areas.