The first aircraft to land in Sør-Varanger was part of a trial undertaken in 1922 by the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service to test the flight time from Horten to Kirkenes. The mission was awarded to Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen and Finn Lützow-Holm, who chose to fly the 45-hour trip along the coast. The next landing was a military Fokker which landed on the iced lake of Andrevann in 1934. Widerøe undertook several flights within the municipality in 1937, offering sightseeing and undertaking aerial photography. The first scheduled service started to Kirkenes the following summer with postal flights to Tromsø flown by Widerøe on behalf of Norwegian Air Lines (DNL). The flight allowed post to be sent from Oslo to Kirkenes in one day and was continued the next season. The route was flown from Tromsø with intermediate stops at Vadsø and Hammerfest. There were public demands for passenger services be started.