Station Group Banak | |||||||||||
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Joint (military and civilian) | ||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Norwegian Air Force | ||||||||||
| Location | Banak, Porsanger, Finnmark, Norway | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 8 m / 25 ft | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 70°04′00″N 24°58′26″E / 70.06667°N 24.97389°E | ||||||||||
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  Station Group Banak | |||||||||||
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Station Group Banak (Norwegian: Stasjonsgruppe Banak), formerly Banak Air Station (Banak flystasjon), is a military airbase located at Banak, just north of Lakselv in Porsanger Municipality in Finnmark, Norway. Operated by the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF), it serves a detachment of the 330 Squadron, which operates two Westland Sea King helicopters used for search and rescue operations in Finnmark, Svalbard and surrounding Arctic sea areas (the northern Norwegian Sea, the Barents Sea and the Arctic Sea). Of the station's two helicopters, one is on standby at any given time. The station group is co-located with the civilian Lakselv Airport, Banak and is administratively under the 132nd Air Wing and Bodø Main Air Station. Banak is RNoAF's most northerly base and has fifty employees.
The airfield was first built with triangular runways in 1938. It was taken over by the Luftwaffe in 1940, who expanded it and laid down two wooden runways. Banak was taken over by the RNoAF in 1945, but abandoned in 1952. Plans for re-opening emerged in 1955, but uncertainty regarding its value in a war caused a prolonged debate about financing. The air station was largely funded by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and was opened on 4 May 1963, along with a civilian terminal. During the Cold War, Norway did not allow allies peacetime use of the airfield. The runway was extended in 1968 and the 330 Squadron was established in 1973.