Åre Östersund Airport's new runway lighting and approach system has now been inaugurated. The new infrastructure means enhanced accessibility for the region's travelers, as the airport will now be able to take off and land aircraft even in poor visibility conditions with fog, which was not possible before.

– Finally, after several years of careful preparations, it is of course very gratifying that we have now got the new runway lighting infrastructure in place at Åre Östersund. The new technology enables enhanced accessibility to the region and increased safety for everyone who travels here by plane as the airport can now receive and land aircraft even in weather conditions with severely reduced visibility, says Peter Fahlén, Airport Manager Åre Östersund Airport at Swedavia.  

The investment in the new runway lighting and approach system enables aircraft takeoffs and landings even in weather conditions with lower visibility, such as fog (CAT III).

Currently, only a small number of Swedish airports have the new technology, including Swedavia's Stockholm Arlanda Airport and Gothenburg Landvetter Airport. Åre Östersund Airport will thus become Swedavia's third airport and Swedavia's first regional airport to have infrastructure and systems in this category at its airport.

The new conditions that improve accessibility to the airport mean in practice that navigation and meteorological systems have been updated, as well as the airport receiving a new runway lighting system with nearly a thousand luminaires. A considerable improvement compared to previous systems.

Swedavia is behind the financing of the new runway lights and the new approach system, in collaboration with the Region and the nearby municipalities, Östersund, Åre and Krokom. The investment amounts to a total of SEK 70 million.

Source: Swedavia