Construction started on 14 August 1952 with construction of a road from Blomsterdalen. Construction on the airport lot itself started in early 1953. Between 200 and 300 people worked on the construction, some of which lived in sheds at Nordheim. Work was carried out in two shifts. Thirty farms were partially expropriated. Half a million cubic meters (18 million cu ft) of rock were blasted and a similar amount of earthwork moved in the construction process. The work consisted of a runway and an equivalently long taxiway, although it was only half the width. The terminal building cost NOK 200,000 and was located next to a parking lot with place for seventy cars. A long barbed wire fence circumferenced the airport. The airport had instrument landing system from the start.