The first aircraft to land on the island of Værøya was a Noorduyn Norseman of the Royal Norwegian Air Force in 1948.

The routes were operated two to three times per week as a charter service, with subsidies from the municipalities of Værøy and Røst.

The helicopters doubled as serving for search and rescue duty; in case they were needed for the latter flights to Værøy and Røst were cancelled.

The regional airports in Lofoten and Vesterålen opened in 1972, with the Værøy and Røst service being taken over by Widerøe on 1 September 1973.

Subsidies of 1.9 million Norwegian krone (NOK) was granted for the route in 1973, and the service transported 5,359 passengers (from both Røst and Værøy).

The Norwegian Meteorological Institute concluded in 1973 that Nordlandet was the most suitable location in terms of weather, but test flights showed otherwise.

It is located on level section of land; just south of the runway is the 465-meter (1,526 ft) tall mountain Teisthammeren.

[9][11] On 19 January 1989, a Widerøe Twin Otter became uncontrollable due to turbulence during final approach to Værøy.

[12] Widerøe Flight 839 took place on 12 April 1990, when a Twin Otter crashed into the sea just after take-off, killing all five people on board.

[4] Nordland County Municipality started a helicopter service from Værøy to Bodø on 1 January 1993, using the old heliport at Hanna Bakken-jordet.

The latter was chosen and construction commenced in 1996; the heliport was entirely financed by the Civil Aviation Administration and was officially opened on 15 February 1997.

The initial three-year contract was won by Helikopter Service, which bid NOK 22.7 million, 28 percent less than they received previously.

[17] In a 2002 tender, valid for three years from 1 August 2002, CHC Helikopter Service won the bid in exchange for subsidies of NOK 55.8 million.

[18] Lufttransport won the tender valid from 1 August 2005, winning ahead of CHC with a bid of NOK 56 million.

As part of the Single European Sky ATM Research program, Avinor installed a remote AFIS service at Værøy, which is controlled from Bodø.