The company proposed that Svea would be built as a dorm town, where workers would commute for the week.

On 10 April 1994, Store Norske's board stated that they could not support the two main alternatives, construction of an all-new permanent dwelling town in Svea, and commuting from the mainland.

[3] In March 1996, Store Norske, Kings Bay, and Lufttransport signed an agreement concerning intra-island transport out of Longyearbyen.

This involved the introduction of Dornier 228 aircraft, which operated for Store Norske to Svea and for Kings Bay to Ny-Ålesund Airport, Hamnerabben.

Svea Airport was situated at 10 meters (32 ft) above mean sea level, on the north shore of van Mijenfjorden.