Longyearbyen has the largest airport on the islands (IATA: LYR [2]). SAS (Scandinavian Airline Systems [3]) has scheduled flights from Oslo (IATA: OSL [4]) Sunday-Friday (4.5 hours, US$150-350 each way), and from Tromsø (IATA: TOS [5]) Sunday-Thursday (1.5 hours, US$100-300 each way).

SAS's long monopoly on flights to Longyearbyen ended in March 2008, when Norwegian [6] started twice-weekly direct flights from Oslo to Longyearbyen (from 100€ each way).

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A number of operators offer cruises around Svalbard in the high season. These are the only practical means of visiting the more far-flung bits of the archipelago like Ny-Ålesund, but they don't come cheap: a typical 3-day cruise starting from Longyearbyen may cost you from 7900 kr (c. US$1500, cheapest cabin, twin sharing). There are also longer cruises, some starting all the way from Oslo, with rates going up to US$9500 for a 12-day trip.

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