Sustainability is a concept that has been dominating developmental and political debates during at least the last two decades. It is a contested concept, flexible enough to match diverse or even conflicting viewpoints and interests. In tourism, this vagueness is related to the value-based character of the sustainable tourism concept. The concept is often related to broad and sweeping ethical and ideological considerations and to a simplified and harmonic view on sustainable development where inescapable conflict of interests between social, cultural, economic and environmental issues are neglected. The aim of this research is to critically discuss discourses of sustainability of a disputed tourist project in rural Sweden as communicated in mass media. More specifically, the research is examining the case of Sälen mountain resort and look on how the development process of a new international airport, inaugurated in 2020, was presented and debated in newspapers. The project was considered controversial with many proponents as well as opponents raising conflicting interests and points of view. We have analysed material in newspapers for the period 2011-2019. Preliminary findings indicate that the project of the development of an international airport is presented as hopeful and good with indications of intrinsic though utilitarian values. Pro-growth discourses around increasing numbers of international tourists and job generation, or even of positive environmental impacts are evident in the media. Opposition on the other hand, comes as debate articles and develops around tax-payers money, responsibility to future generations and environmental concerns. Discourses of weak and strong approaches and pro-growth vs degrowth become part of the discussion of the results to inform the theoretical framework of analysis. As this transportation project and the discourses around it analysed rely a lot on the premise of growth and international tourism, aspects of circularity become also part of the discussion. The role of an international airport as a transportation mega-project to compensate for rurality and peripherality as well as social sustainability is evident also in the discourses. Aspects of locality and proximity are ignored in these discourses and pinpoint its relevance to circularity paradigm and its contribution in advancing sustainability discourses.