Widerøe originally served the airport with nineteen-seat Twin Otters, serving Honningsvåg up to six times per day. The airport allowed for a travel time of four and a half hours from Honningsvåg to Oslo. Annual ridership was 20,000 for the first twelve months; it peaked at 25,316 in 1986 before falling to 17,000 in 1993. A new terminal was built in 1989. Honningsvåg Airport has used the term "North Cape Airport" because of its vicinity to the North Cape. A dispute between Honningsvåg and Lakselv arose in 1996 when the latter started using the same term for their airport.