Facilities
The airport is located 1.6 nautical miles (3.0 km; 1.8 mi) northwest of Longyearbyen, the largest settlement on Svalbard. The airport also serves the near-by Russian settlement of Barentsburg. The mainland Norway is part of the Schengen Area, but Svalbard is excluded, so from 2011 there is passport control at the airport. A passport, a national ID card indicating nationality, or a Norwegian ID card is needed.
There are 200 free outdoor parking spaces at the airport. There are taxis, rental cars and airport coaches available at the airport (a shuttle bus operates to hotels and guesthouses in Longyearbyen and Nybyen). Scandinavian Airlines provides handling services through SAS Ground Services.
The runway is 2,483 metres (8,146 ft) long and aligned 10/28 (roughly east–west), equipped with instrument landing system, but there are no taxiways. The 45 metres (148 ft) wide runway has two culverts that allow water from the mountain Platåberget to drain under it. About one third of the runway is dug into the terrain, while about two-thirds is built on an embankment. A layer of frost-stable fill, varying from 1 to 4 metres (3 ft 3 in to 13 ft 1 in) is under the runway to hinder the soil from unfreezing during summer.
Read more about this topic: Svalbard Airport, Longyear
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