Stockholm Västerås Airport


Stockholm Västerås Airport, also known as Hässlö Flygplats is a minor international airport located near the city of Västerås in Sweden. Despite its name, it is from Stockholm Municipality and Stockholm County.

History

In 1931 the area started to be used as a military airbase.
In 1976 the airport, bought by the city, started to be used for civilian flights, first route was SAS to Copenhagen.
In 2001 Ryanair started flights, first route was to London-Stansted.
In 2006 Ryanair left the airport, but returned in 2007. The same year SAS ended their flights from Västerås.
On 13 May 2020, the Västerås city council decided to close down the airport. The airport company should end all activities no later than 31 December 2022. This is due to annual losses and need for annual financing from the city, worsened by the coronavirus outbreak.

General aviation

The airport has extensive general aviation traffic. Of the 17,737 landings in 2014, 94% constituted general aviation, according to the Swedish CAA. That includes hospital flights, flight training, private flights, corporate flights and air taxi. A multitude of operators are based at Stockholm-Västerås Airport. Among these are maintenance workshops, helicopter businesses, flight schools, flight clubs and an aviation museum.
The airport played an important role during the 2014 Västmanland wildfire, serving as a base for water bombers and rescue helicopters.

Airlines and destinations

Access

Travel from the airport to Stockholm Central Station may be done via Flygbussarna, private bus coach service, and takes approximately one and a half hours. There is also a local city bus to the Västerås Central Station, which has trains to Stockholm and more cities.