Widerøe is the only approved scheduled air carrier to operate from the airport, using Canadian-built De Havilland Canada Dash 8 STOL (short take-off and landing) aircraft.

This was a major success and an important step for the population in the area (Vesterålen archipelago), who now could travel to the bigger cities of Norway and the rest of the world in one day, not weeks.

Currently owned and operated by Avinor, the airport was managed by the Hadsel municipality for the first 20 years.

[3] Work on extending RESA and improving the strip around the runway was completed in 2006.

[3] In March 2015, Avinor decided to postpone plans for extending the runway to 1199 meters.