The first water airport in Tromsø was located at the port in the city center and opened in 1935 to serve Norwegian Air Lines (DNL) flights.

Skattøra was first built by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service, with construction starting in 1938.

With the break-out of the Second World War in Norway on 9 April 1940, Skattøra was the home to Heinkel He 115 and Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.11, which participated in the Norwegian Campaign.

The first proposals for an airport in Tromsø was presented in 1918 by Det Norske Luftfartsrederi, who intended to operate air route to Northern Norway.

Norwegian Air Lines set up Tromsø as the last stop on its coastal service north of Bergen.

Ramsund Naval Base was initially proposed as a suitable location, as it would allow it to be co-located with the rest of the operations of the Royal Norwegian Navy.

The plans included two hangars the size of the ultimate building, two barracks, a terminal two slipways, docks and ammunition storage.

The goal was to make the airport the main air station for seaplanes in Northern Norway.

Construction commenced in January 1939, consisting of a slipway, a guard station, a barracks and a fuel depot.

Further work was started to allow six torpedo bombers and twelve reconnaissance aircraft be stationed at Skattøra.

[9] The aircraft and crew flew 174 missions, including reconnaissance, transport and bombing of German targets in Ofoten.

Work progressed with limited supplies and those needed for the Polar Line were cannibalized to give way for the airport's completion.

[14] From 5 July the workforce was supplemented and later dominated by Eastern European prisoners of war (POW), mostly from Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.

Although the center of operations, The Seefliegerhorst commanded water air stations along the coast from Ålesund Airport, Sørneset to Kirkenes.

[17] Deutsche Luft Hansa operated an airline route from Kirkenes via Tromsø to Hamburg.

8601 Demolition Squadron RAF was flown to Tromsø to demolish the majority of the Luftwaffe's aircraft.

Their main task was transporting freight, passengers and goods to Svalbard, including the communities of Longyearbyen, Isfjord Radio, Ny-Ålesund, Hopen and Bjørnøya.

[27] With the advent of the Korean War, the 333 Squadron was moved from Sola Air Station to Skattøra in 1950.

[25] Flights to Svalbard and Jan Mayen were then flown out of Bodø Main Air Station, although they did not have sufficient range for these missions and had to land at Tromsø for refueling.

[29] With Norway's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization a large amount of funding was allocated to building new land airports.

[27] With the replacement of the Catalinas with Grumman HU-16 Albatross, the northern detachment of the 333 Squadron relocated to Andøya Air Station.

During the preamble for establishing the Coast Guard during the 1960s, Skattøra was considered as a possible main base for the flotilla.

[29] When commercial flights resumed on 27 May 1946, Skattøra was allocated to also serve as the civilian airport for Tromsø.

[20] Due to security concerns, a separate passenger terminal was built at the aerodrome in 1952, outside the gate of the air station.

The latter served only a small community, but its military counterpart, Bardufoss Air Station, was expanded to meet NATO demands.

[34] Tromsø Air Traffic Control Center remained until 1 January 1957, when it was relocated to Bodø.

[34] Langnes received its own water aerodrome and Widerøe moved its operations there, abandoning Skattøra.

[36] Other airlines which for shorter or longer periods had an aircraft stationed at Skattøra were Bjørumfly, Mørefly, Norfly, Norrønafly and Ski og Sjøfly.

[43] The airport was situated at Skattøra in what was then Tromsøysund Municipality, in today's Tromsø, some 6 kilometers (3.7 mi) north of the city center.

Its area of operation covered from Trøndelag and north in Norway, as well as the Atlantic Ocean out to Svalbard, Jan Mayen and Iceland.